The Chairs @ Tron Theatre

Previous visits to Scotland from Sligo-based company Blue Raincoat have seen frenetic adaptations of Flann O'Brien's novels given a physical theatre energy that matches the author's ferocious word-play and scatter-shot surrealism. Returning with a script that has become a twentieth century classic might even be seen as a step backwards. However, The Chairs was writted by Ionesco, master of the absurd, and promises no less then the revelation of the secret of life.

Blue Raincoat's first production of The Chairs in 2005 was an award-winning celebration: the company's enthusiasm for treating the stage set as an extra character in the drama meshes well with Ionesco's own vision for The Chairs - the finale relies on objects more than words. With the theatre community's emphasis on new writing sometimes obscuring great works of the past, this is a welcome outing for a play that is hard-hitting, intelligent and bleakly comic. Described as a "tragic farce", it shares the aggression of Beckett's Waiting for Godot: Blue Raincoat add a vivid, visceral power.