The Chairs is a one-act play by Eugène Ionesco, described as an absurdist "tragic farce". It was first performed in Paris in 1952.
For Ionesco's Sandaliha (The Chairs), Bahman Mohasses created a number of decorative and expressive chairs that when put together suggested an abstract forest.
Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Ionesco instigated a revolution in ideas and techniques of drama, beginning with his "anti play", The Bald Soprano which contributed to the beginnings of what is known as the Theatre of the Absurd, which includes a number of plays that, following the ideas of the philosopher Albert Camus, explore concepts of absurdism and surrealism. He was made a member of the Académie française in 1970, and was awarded the 1970 Austrian State Prize for European Literature, and the 1973 Jerusalem Prize.
Ionesco in 1993
Romanian postage stamp depicting Ionesco
Ionesco's grave in Montparnasse cemetery, Paris. The inscription translates: Pray to the I don't-know-who: Jesus Christ, I hope