The Bérenger Plays

The Killer, Rhinocerous, Exit the King, Strolling in the Air

Eugene Ionesco, Donald Watson, Derek Prouse

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English

Pushkin Press
31 March 2020

Plays & playscripts

This collection brings together the four plays that feature Ionesco’s everyman protagonist Jean Bérenger. In ‘The Killer’, he comes across a “radiant city”, an ideal civilization which is unfortunately being terrorized by a killer, whom he decides to track down and dissuade from committing any further crimes. In ‘Rhinoceros’, he is the only person in a provincial town who is resisting “rhinoceritis”, an affliction that turn its victims into the eponymous horned beasts. In ‘Exit the King’, he is the powerful King Bérenger the First, who refuses to acknowledge that he is dying. And in ‘Strolling in the Air’, he acquires the capacity of flight and discovers that the celestial vault is held up by a gigantic pink pillar.

While each play in the Bérenger cycle is unique, they are all prime examples of Ionesco’s conception of the theatre of the absurd, and touch on themes that preoccupied Ionesco throughout his career, such as mortality, alienation, freedom and the evils of Fascism. This volume constitutes a perfect introduction to one of the twentieth century’s most original and influential playwrights.

By: Eugene Ionesco
Translated by: Donald Watson, Derek Prouse
Imprint: Pushkin Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 128mm,
Weight: 316g
ISBN: 9780714548487
ISBN 10: 0714548480
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 31 March 2020
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Born in Romania, Eugene Ionesco (1909-94) became one of France's foremost practitioners of avant-garde theatre.

Reviews for The Bérenger Plays: The Killer, Rhinocerous, Exit the King, Strolling in the Air

If life is absurd for Eugène Ionesco, it is also alluring. His capacity for delight in the details of human existence struggles with his conviction of its futility; it lends depth and verve to his despair. * The New York Times *