The Bald Soprano and Other Plays: The Bald Soprano; The Lesson; Jack, or the Submission; The Chairs

The leading figure of absurdist theater and one of the great innovators of the modern stage, Eugène Ionesco (1909-94) did not write his first play, The Bald Soprano , until 1950. He went on to become an internationally renowned master of modern drama, famous for the comic proportions and bizarre effects that allow his work to be simultaneously hilarious, tragic, and profound. As Ionesco has said, “Theater is not literature. . . . It is simply what cannot be expressed by any other means." This Absurdist masterpiece by the author of Rhinoceros "is explosively, liberatingly funny...a loony parody with a climax which is an orgy of non-sequiturs" ( The Observer ). Written in 1950, Eugene Ionesco's first play, The Bald Soprano , was a seminal work of Absurdist theatre. Today, it is celebrated around the world as a modern classic for its imagination and sui generis theatricality. A hilarious parody of English manners and a striking statement on the alienation of modern life, it was inspired by the strange dialogues Ionesco encountered in foreign language phrase books. Ionesco went on to become an internationally renowned master of modern drama, famous for the comic proportions and bizarre effects that allow his work to be simultaneously hilarious, tragic, and profound. As Ionesco has said, "Theater is not literature. . . . It is simply what cannot be expressed by any other means." The leading figure of absurdist theater and one of the great innovators of the modern stage, Eugene Ionesco (1909-94) did not write his first play, The Bald Soprano, until 1950. He went on to become an internationally renowned master of modern drama, famous for the comic proportions and bizarre effects that allow his work to be simultaneously hilarious, tragic, and profound. As Ionesco has said, "Theater is not literature. . . . It is simply what cannot be expressed by any other means." The bald soprano The lesson Jack; or, The submission The chairs. A collection of four plays by French playwright Eugène Ionesco Four original plays by French author Eugène Ionesco