Honestly, I had expected The Bald Soprano to be somewhat boring. I had always been a broadway musical fanatic (Grease, Wicked, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, Jersey Boys…), so I was not entirely excited to watch a play where there was no constant singing and dancing. Fortunately, this play exceeded my expectations (although I did not necessarily understand much of it). In the beginning, I tried to pay attention to minute details of the production, so I would be able to blog about it later on. I even counted the number of chimes the clock had made, thinking it was some sort of symbolism! However, after a while of trying to understand everything going on in the play, I gave up. The characters seemed to be speaking about complete nonsense. They lost me with the whole “Bobby Watson” confusion (even though it was quite amusing). Eventually, I decided to simply watch the rest of the show without trying so hard to interpret everything they said or did. From time to time, I found myself focusing on the audience rather than the performance. I had my eyes on a friendly looking, elderly lady in the front row, who laughed every few minutes. Occasionally, I found her more entertaining than the play itself. The play became more interesting when the Martins were introduced. I thought it was hilarious when Mrs. Martin kept repeating, “Oh how cuuuriiious it is!!”
Another aspect of the play that I liked a lot was the superb acting. The actors were very dedicated and stayed in character the whole time. With such a great deal of silly and foolish scenes, it was very impressive that not one of them cracked a smile or stuttered one bit. It’s been three days since I have watch the play, and I am still awed by the fact that Mrs. Smith had the bravery to lay herself on the floor, right after it had been brutally drenched by everyone else’s spit. Now that’s professional!
The set up of the stage was very practical as well. When I was seated, I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to fully enjoy the show, since I am not used to watching performances from the sidelines. However, the actors addressed every side of the stage, especially when they were sitting in the ottomans at the corners of the stage.
The play expresses to the audience that people tend to make mountains out of molehills. In the play, the Smiths managed to have an argument for a good five minutes over something as frivolous as whether someone was at the door when the doorbell rang. The Bald Soprano also proves that adults, no matter how mature and sensible they may seem, have their irrational sides. For example, during the end of the play, all the characters went ballistic, screaming and storming at each other with words and sounds that made no sense at all.
Overall, I enjoyed most of the play. There were various parts I was extremely confused about, such as the fireman’s “relative” story and the maid’s “fire” poem, but at least they made me burst out laughing. Fortunately, I understood more about the play afterwards, when I read the director’s note in the playbill. Next time I watch play similar to The Bald Soprano, I’d be sure to do a bit more research beforehand.
