I knew I wouldn’t understand the play before I even go to see it. First, because English is not my native language, I have trouble in understanding the actors’ dialogue in different accents. (Even though I have strong accent when I speak English, I simply can’t understand people talking with unfamiliar accent.) Second, because of cultural differences, I did not understand some idiomatic languages used in the dialogues, and why the actors act in certain way even though these actions may be very typical for Westerners. For these reasons, I can only talk about “The Bald Soprano” from my narrow point of view.
First, talking about the content of the play, I did not understand the ideas of the whole play until the class discussion on Monday. I knew that there was irony involved in the play, but I did not understand what it was. To me, “The Bald Soprano” was like a dark comedy. Some of the dialogues may seem hilarious, but they usually have very negative and pessimistic meanings. I cannot say whether this play is successful or not. Yet, if the author had the purpose of making the audience feel frustrated as it was discussed in class on Monday, then he was certainly successful in doing so because I felt really frustrated while I was watching the play.
While I do not like the overall content of the play, I certainly feel the actors have successfully brought the words into life. The actors’ actions may be a little exaggerated, but they were successful in conveying the theme of class satire throughout the play.
Last, to be honest, I did not notice that the stage setting was upside-down. I only noticed that the floor was painted like the sky, and the display of china dishes were strange because they seemed to form an upside-down triangle. However, the overall arrangement of furniture was not very bizarre. It was a living room of an upper middle-class house.
If you ask me whether I like “The Bald Soprano”, I cannot say yes. It was true that I was laughing while watching the play, but I have to confess that I did not know what I was laughing at. Perhaps, I simply thought that the dialogues and actions were childish and “worth” laughing. In addressing the problem about how “The Bald Soprano” speaks to New York audience, I do not think I have an acceptable answer since I still don’t know how New Yorkers think after living in New York for more than five years. However, from my previous knowledge and perspective, most New Yorkers would think the class issues that were carried out in this play do not exist because they simply think that class structures do not exist in New York. However, what I found a little ironic about this was that while many upper middle-class New Yorkers try to distinguish themselves from the other upper middle-class people such the English by acting like they are more integrated with the lower class, they are actually acting no different from the other upper middle-class people. Class structures still exist in New York, and almost everywhere around the world, despite there are numerous works that criticize this phenomenon. In my opinions, most New Yorkers would just laugh it off after they view the play. Who would actually think about the underlying concerns express in this play even if the audience know them very well?
