"If man is not tragic, he is ridiculous and painful, "comic" in fact, and by revealing his absurdity one can achieve a sort of tragedy." --Ionesco quoted in The New York Times (June 1, 1958)

The Derisionist
Eugene Ionesco was born in Slatina, Romania, in 1909 to a French mother and Romanian father. For years, he claimed that he was born in 1912. In its newsletter, the Pearl Theatre Company attributes this to his "embarrassment about being grouped with the 'new young playwrights' of the Absurdist movement."
To this day, the conflicting birth years often appear.

His parents separated while he was a boy, so much of his early years were split between living with his mother and living with his father (and new wife). His father, who tended to back whatever political movement assumed power, would prove to be Ionesco's political and literary foil, provoking the writer's anti-Communist sentiment and tragic/absurd view of mankind.

A poet and literary critic with a degree in French literature who also worked as a proofreader, Ionesco's brilliant theatrical career was sparked not by an interest in theatre, but rather an interest in learning English.

In his late thirties, Ionesco began vigorously studying the language. His textbook, which used stilted and repetitive English conversations, would eventually inspire him to write his first play, "The Bald Soprano," in 1948. (Untitled Theater Company #61 will present a staged reading of the play at this year's festival.)

Ionesco had already demonstrated an interest in the difficulty language has conveying the meaning of words prior to this. In the 1930s and 1940s, he wrote a series of "Tales For Children Less Than Three Years Old," that employed verbal games between a father and daughter to illustrate the point that words may have distinct meanings but themselves cannot fully convey those meanings. (New York Artists Unlimited will perform tales 3-4 in area schools during the festival, while Untitled Theater Company #61 performs the full set in the Connelly Theater.)

In "Jack, or the Submission," Jack's family derides him with nonsensical words and phrases, until Jack exclaims, "All right then, yes, yes, so there! I love fish and chips!" With this family crisis averted, Jack can turn his attention to achieving marital bliss. (Lost Tribes will perform this work in English. Meanwhile, Investigadores del Arte Encencio will perform the work in Spanish.)

Ionesco even published a series of skits as part of a textbook written with Michel Benamou called "Mise en train."

Published by The Macmillian Company in 1969, "Mise en train" divides 72 lessons into 20 chapters, each chapter culminating in dialogue written especially by Ionesco under the pretense that the conventions French language students must learn bear similarities to the stage conventions a drama student must master. (Jean Cocteau Repertory will perform a new translation of these series titled "French Conversation and Diction Exercises for American Students." Parts of his textbook series will also be performed as shorts by various companies.)

In all, more than forty total presentations--from productions and readings to screenings and seminars--will grace 13 venues throughout Manhattan during the festival.

In addition to "Tales for Children...," Untitled Theater Company #61 will stage Ionesco's most popular play, "Rhinoceros." The derisionist's "anti-Nazi" play, a meditation on conformity and pachyderms, "Rhinoceros" also received film treatments in 1964 and 1974. Both films will be screened at Anthology Film Archives. A 1987 documentary, "Eugene Ionesco: Voices, Silences;" a collection of short films co-directed by Eugene Ionesco and Sylvain Dhomme, "Seven Deadly Sins;" and a film version of his play, "The New Tenant," will also be screened at Anthology Film Archives. Gemini CollisionWorks will also bring "The New Tenant" to the stage along with a new (first) English translation of his unfinished play "The Viscount." Carolyn Jauch & Co will stage a bilingual (French/English) production of "The Killing Game," a play about a plague (at the end of which everyone dies). Hyun Jung Lee directs a production of Ionesco's dream play, "Journeys Among the Dead."

In addition to performances of "Jack, or the Submission," Investigadores del Arte Escenico will showcase a Spanish language version of "The Future is in Eggs." Looking Glass Theater will perform an all-female version of "Man With Bags" using the translation of the playwright's daughter, Marie-France Ionesco. Mouth to Mouth Theater Company will present "The Chairs," directed by Tina Polzin. The Pearl Theater Company will bring the moribund aristocracy governed by King Berenger to life in "Exit the King."

In "The Killers," The Nighthouse Company presents a picturesque city with only one problem--a serial killer. Purple Man Theater puts the search for fulfillment into three acts in "Hunger and Thirst." The Revolving Shakespeare Company will offer "Macbett," the Scottish play, "only more comic and less optimistic."

An artist and a demanding buyer will square off in Sanctuary Theater's production of "The Picture" (preceded by "The Oversight"). Spotlight On & 2B Theatre will present "A Hell of a Mess." Spring Theatreworks will stage "Frenzy for Two, or More." The Subjective Theatre Company will tackle Ionesco's detective story, "Victims of Duty." Ionesco gets visited by his critics in "Improvisation" and admirers await their leader's arrival in "The Leader" both performed by True Comedy Theatre Company.

Shorts
Before every full-length production in the festival, various theater companies will present plays that are between 5 and 15 minutes in length. These shorts will not, as a rule, be attached to any production. Instead, the festival will randomly shuffle them from evening to evening, so that the audience might find any of them as a curtain raiser before the show they are watching.

The festival will also include several Shorts Nights comprised of select Ionesco shorts from all of the companies presenting shorts in the festival. The list of shorts in this year's festival is "The Motor Show," "To Prepare a Hard Boiled," "The Niece-Wife," "Conversation Exercises Parts I-V," "Salutations," "Maid to Marry," "The Duel," "The Foot of the Wall," "Conversation Exercises, Parts VI-VII, X-XI," "Tales for Children Less Than Three (Parts 3,4)," Learning to Walk," "Foursome."

Seminars
The Maisons Francaise of Columbia and New York Universities and The Players Club will host seminars devoted to Ionesco and his work. The Pearl Theatre Company will also host a post-show discussion after its October 2 production of "Exit the King."

TIckets and Festival Passes
Tickets are available at the box offices or can be purchased online at SmartTix.
Festival passes ($125) are available for those interested. For details on purchasing festival passes, go to the Ionesco Festival Web site.