Eugene Ionesco

by Richard N. Coe

Eugene Ionesco (26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian playwright who wrote mostly in French, and one of the foremost figures of the French Avant-garde theatre. Beyond ridiculing the most banal situations, Ionesco's plays depict the solitude and insignificance of human existence in a tangible way.

Genres: Theatre

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

Reviews

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

An early study of Ionesco’s ideas. I like his idea that human life is absurd and stupid more than his apparent opposition to science and logic.

[Michael Bedford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read about a very interesting man and his theories on theatre. I'd read Rhinoceros in the past and seen a production of The Lesson, but I'd never taken the time to actually study the ins and outs of what made Ionesco decide to write the way he did.

Coe's book shows that although some critics called Ionesco apolitical, he was in fact dedicated to ideological concerns rather than political squabbles. This made Ionesco's work universal rather than topical, like Brecht's.

This is a good read for anyone remotely interested in absurdism, theatre, and especially Ionesco.