The Chairs

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By Eugene Ionesco
Centro Cultural do Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro

In this masterpiece of the absurdist theatre, a 90 year old couple invite a huge number of guests to a gathering to explain the meaning of their existence. The guests never show up, but their absence is symbolized by an accumulation of empty chairs.

The director's interpretation of the old couple were based on two axis: they were archetypes representing the succession of humans from Adam and Eve to you and me, and secondly playing them as if drawn from the best comedic traditions of mediaeval Europe, namely commedia dell'arte and the mistero buffo.

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The production created a whirlwind of actions and comic spectacle whose aim was nothing less than becoming a conduit for the plays revelations.

Saidpour directed the heroes of the play as outwardly jovial and inwardly terrorized furiously and rhythmically moving about and meaninglessly assembling chairs. Their actions hilarious at first gradually became frightening.