“The Bald Soprano” (by Ionesco) as a script alone was the first piece of writing to make me laugh so much in a very long time.  Reading it out loud in my Arts in NYC class especially enhanced the humor of it, as my classmates put on funny accents and simply sounded ridiculous.  It is a play about two couples, but really about nothing; the title itself has no meaning, except the indirect message that language and communication is abstract and can always be skewed.  As a result of this experience with the script in class, though, I was greatly looking forward to viewing it as a show at the New York City Center on October 11, 2011.

The set of the stage formed my first impression of the play.  It was a simple, rather typical set for a living room, except for one major aspect—everything on the back wall of the set was upside down.  It was ingenious!  Because of the back wall, the set perfectly matched the idea of absurdity that the play is meant to exhibit.  The play began and proceeded exactly as the script demanded, but the tone of the play seemed a bit different than we had performed in class.  It was still very funny, but it was significantly more awkward.  This is most likely a result of the fact that we didn’t have the sound effects.  The loud, obnoxious, repetitive clock sounds in the beginning of the play successfully increased the absurdity of the it.  The actors in the play were also much more intense and forceful than I had imagined.  For example, I imagined Mr. Smith as a bit more shy with less shouting.  He could have said his lines more calmly; I think that would have enhanced the humor.  Mr. and Mrs. Martin, however, I loved.  They were hilarious and entertainingly awkward with each other.

All in all, I am especially glad that we were instructed to read the script before viewing it, because it allowed us to know what to look for and to understand that the play is supposed to be absurd.  Some of my other peers from other classes had not read it first and did not appreciate the play at all, because they didn’t understand it.  I definitely appreciated it, and I love the idea that it brings up: language, words, and meanings are always skewed.

Read the script of “Bald Soprano” for a good laugh:  Bald Soprano script