Ionesco's farce combines a comic portrait of human folly with an experiment in theatrical possibilities. In a house on an island a very old couple pass the time with private games and half-remembered stories.
Two generals, Macbett and Banco, put down a rebellion. In payment for their heroic service, Archduke Duncan promises to bestow on them land, titles and cash, but he reneges on the deal. This is a comic tale of ambition, corruption, cowardice and excess, remoulding Shakespeare's Macbeth into a tragic farce which takes human folly to its extremes.