Themester event blog

I attended the play, The Chairs, by Eugene Ionesco that Washburn put on this last week. It was an absurdist play which means that the playwright uses non traditional techniques to make the play more dramatic. regular plays will generally try to be very realistic but in absurd plays they tend to express the major themes through movement and different forms of expression. I thought this play tied in to the themester very well because they used non traditional acts to express major themes. The play was an old woman and an old man arranging chairs for guests and they were all waiting on a speaker to come in and deliver an important message, the meaning of life. Throughout the play the characters were revealing certain things about their past that suggested that they were not happy with their lives. They seemed to be very desperate to find meaning and to be important in some way. I think the overall theme was that there is no solid answer to the meaning of life and that you must figure it out on your own. It was an interesting play to watch because you had to use your imagination because the 2 main characters were having conversations with other imaginary characters that weren't actually there. The two main characters would shout out at times and would share their inner monologues. It really gave insight into the characters. It was kind of out there but it went along with our themester very good because it showed that there are other ways to express oneself other than direct realistic language. Voicing the characters subtext and requiring the audience to use their imagination was very clever. While not all of the dialogue made sense, the themes were clear based on the inner thoughts of the characters being voiced as well as their dramatic movements and gestures. The way that they were over the top acting actually helped in relaying the themes of the play. I really enjoyed it because it was unique and really made you think about the way humans think and behave and try to find meaning in life.