Dec 20, 2009

The Chairs | Critical Overview

When The Chairs debuted in Paris in 1952, many critics did not know what to make of the play. A few praised the production. Reneé Saurel (quotT ed by Rosette C. Lamont in her Ionesco’s Imperatives: The Politics of Culture) believes the play is ‘‘hauntingly beautiful and perfectly structured under its surface of incoherence.’’

Most critics were not as kind. Some regarded it as too strange. Others were just confused. A contemporary critic quoted in Ruby Cohn’s From Desire to Godot: Pocket Theatre of Postwar Paris wrote, ‘‘Since the guests are...