I don’t even know where to begin. The writer’s block I’m experiencing right now is almost as frustrating as the confusion I felt while watching the play.
(3 hours later)
(4 hours later)
(4.5 hours later)
While sitting in the car on my way to West Babylon it suddenly hit me. I didn’t actually like the play. The jibberish, the double standards, and the nonsense was all too much for me to handle. Let’s start with the fact that the opening scene was a mixture of “clucks” and pretentious remarks : “…and that’s because we live in the suburbs of London…and our last name is Smith.” I understand that Ionesco was purposely trying to make fun of the upper middle class but I didn’t find the jokes funny, most fell flat.
“Wait, what?” was literally what I was thinking as I sat there staring at the Fire Chief reciting stories for his audience. I didn’t get it, but maybe that’s because I was distracted. I mean, seriously, the scenery was upside down. Not to mention the sky was on the floor. I took this time to look out at the people who paid fine money to go to the theater that night. Everyone, and by everyone I mean the people over 55, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the Fire Chief’s rant about the aunt of that cousin who also had a friend who had a sister-in-law who had a nephew that did something that I missed entirely.
Screaming, yelling, and a lot of sexual tension are the perfect words to characterize this single act play. After the words “bald soprano” were spoken, the entire show evolved into an atrocity. I really like how this directly relates to God of Carnage. As soon as Annette, put simply, throws up in Veronique’s living room it’s all over. It seemed to be that certain acts were key to revealing the true sides of each character in each play.
I don’t think the play spoke to the New York audience very clearly at all. If a group of some of the smartest kids in NYC (all modesty aside) could not understand the point Ionesco was trying to make, then how can anybody?
Maybe I didn’t like it because I’m a logical person, maybe I didn’t like it because I actually had to work to find a meaning, or maybe I didn’t like it because it just wasn’t good.
