SOURCE: “The Theater of Ionesco: A Union of Form and Substance,” in Educational Theatre Journal, Vol. XIII, No. 3, October 1961, pp. 174-81.

In the following essay, Dukore analyzes The Bald Soprano and The Lesson to show that, contrary to Ionesco’s critics, his plays are not formless or meaningless, and explains that while his works are unorthodox and not concerned with psychological realism or political ideology, in Ionesco’s drama form is a direct outgrowth of subject matter.

The plays of Eugene Ionesco have inspired both violent condemnation and rhapsodic adulation. When an off-Broadway theatre recently produced The Bald Soprano and Jack, their advertisements featured a “For-and-Against” column of critical judgments, and urged the public to decide for itself. The public decided not to decide for itself, but accepted the “Against” verdict. Yet the statements on the “Against” side were not the sole reason that the production did not...