1912 Eugene Ionesco is born in Slatina, Romania today. Ionesco will be remembered for his founding of the Theatre of the Absurd, a school of thought which abolished realistic and psychological theatre. Rhinoceros and The Bald Soprano are just two of his plays that broke new ground. He died in 1994.

1916 Captain Kidd, Jr. has a sixteen-week adventure. Edith Taliaferro, Zelda Sears, and Otto Kruger appear in this Rida Johnson Young farce.

1929 Val Gielgud, John's brother, premieres his new play, Chinese White, at the Arts Theatre in London.

1973 Gigi, a staged musical based on the story by Colette and on the Lerner & Loewe-scored film version has an unlucky thirteen week life span at the Uris Theatre, despite a cast including Agnes Moorehead, Alfred Drake and Daniel Massey.

1997 Disney opens its second musical on Broadway ? The Lion King. The show will go on to win the 1998 Tony Award for Best Musical. 1997 Banquo and a banquet are yours for the taking at a special performance of Macbeth, opening tonight at Off-Broadway's New Perspectives Theatre Company. A medieval banquet will be served to audience members during the course of the play. The play-cum-banquet will take place at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NY. The three course meal will be created by Vibeke Fazakerley, the founder of the historical catering firm Primary Sauces in North London, England. Her sourcebooks for this particular meal include a 12th century Danish translation of the oldest-known European cooking document; the first course will consist of Rostyd Beef, Buttered Wortys, Fysshe Hattes and Brede.

? By Sam Maher, Steve Luber and Anne Bradley