The Basic Facts of the Script:
· The play takes place in London, England during an unknown time period. However The Bald Soprano was published in 1965 and can thusly take place then.
· The Bald Soprano is Theatre of the Absurd.
· The original script was written in French and it’s French title is La Cantatrice Chauve.
· The script was written to examine the English language.
· In the end the characters switch places.
Intro to the Plot and Characters:
· The plot of The Bald Soprano is that there is no plot. The entire play is all about language and the outlandish ways that language is used. The out of the ordinary cast starts to act peculiar and shout bizarre phrases and words creating a nonsensical atmosphere. The play ends with the Martins taking the part of the Smiths and vice versa.
· The characters of the play include:
1. Mrs. Smith: Married to Mr. Smith
2. Mr. Smith: Married to Mrs. Smith
3. Mrs. Martin: Married to Mr. Martin
4. Mr. Martin: Married to Mrs. Martin.
5. Mary the maid: Maid to the Smiths
6. The Fire Chief: Just your crazy local Fire Chief
Intro to the Author:
· Eugène Ionesco was born in Slatina, Romania, of a French mother and Romanian father, a lawyer. Ionesco studied literature in Paris and in Romania and eventually took a degree in French at the University of Bucharest. After his graduated, he lived in Bucharest teaching French and writing poetry and literary criticism. His book of criticism, NON, appeared in 1934. While learning English in 1948, Ionesco conceived the idea for his first play, La Cantatrice chauve (The Bald Soprano). The Bald Soprano was inspired by the repetitive and nonsensical phrases of his textbook while attempting to learn English. It consists mainly of clichés of a foreign-language phrase book, and a series of meaningless conversations between two couples that eventually deteriorate into babbling.
Production History:
· Cubiculo, 414 West 51st Street. New York, NY 1987 http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9B0DEEDB103CF931A25755C0A961948260
· Atlantic Theater Co., 336 W. 20th St. (8/9th Aves) New York, NY 9/01/04 to 10/17/04 http://www.curtainup.com/baldsoprano.html
· EVERYMAN PALACE THEATRE, Cork, Ireland FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 2, 2007http://www.blueraincoat.com/baldprima.htm
· The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey; Madison, New JerseyAugust 7-26, 2007http://www.shakespearenj.org/season/soprano.html
· City Garage Theatre; Santa Monica, California November 9, 2007 – March 2, 2008http://www.citygarage.org/ionesco4.html
Quotes From Critiques of Past Productions:
http://www.theatrehistory.com/misc/bald_soprano_002.html
ROSETTE C. LAMONT, Ionesco's Imperatives
"In The Bald Soprano language is single-faceted and parodic. Clichés, formulae, mechanical trivia, and mindless inanities are sustained on one plane throughout; all of the characters speak the same interchangeable language, and are thus all leveled to one-dimensional insignificance. There is no protagonist, no antagonist, the characters lack self-consciousness: language alone is on heightened display."
JEANETTE R. MALKIN, Verbal Violence in Contemporary Drama
"After Eugene Ionesco's first play, The Bald Soprano, opened in Paris in 1950 it ran for weeks before audiences that sometimes numbered fewer than ten. What these adventurous spectators saw was a revolutionary drama which had abandoned the chief conventions of naturalistic theater--recognizable characters, coherent plot--and used language to mock language and logic to make logic seem insane."
RICHARD GILMAN, The Drama Is Coming Now
"The Bald Soprano is explosively, liberatingly funny ... a loony parody with a climax which is an orgy of non-sequiturs."
The Observer
"In The Bald Soprano, people live in a limbo state in which language is dead, so they can't communicate with each other; in which causality is dead, so numbers don't really add up to anything, geography is only a poor attempt to pin some sort of labels on vast unknown spaces, names have no validity because they are only arbitrary sounds we assign to stand in for people, and existence itself is questionable because most of the time we don't really know where we are or what we're doing."
DAVID RUSH, A Student Guide to Play Analysis
"The Bald Soprano baldly foregrounds language as irreducibly foreign."
STEVEN G. KELLMAN, The Translingual Imagination
"The Bald Soprano is a parody of our conversations, of the so-called dramatic situations of our lives, and of our inability to remain silent.... By a deliberate, stark use of the banal and a repetition of the worn-out clichés of language, Ionesco generates an unusual, fresh atmosphere."
The Reader's Encyclopedia of World Drama
"Ionesco's Bald Soprano succeeds in exploring the absurdity of human communication precisely because there is no congruity between the words and the activities of the characters--a disjunction that, ironically, makes his critique of behavior understandable."
JOHN LUTTERBIE, introduction, Hearing Voices
"The Bald Soprano calls into question how we communicate with each other, or whether we really are communicating at all."
JONATHAN DORF, Young Playwrights 101
ENGLISH EXERCISE:
Things You Should Know Before You See The Show:
- What is Theatre of the Absurd?
Although the Theatre of the Absurd is often traced back to avant-garde experiments of the 1920s and 1930s, its roots, in actuality, date back much further. Absurd elements first made their appearance shortly after the rise of Greek drama, in the wild humor and buffoonery of Old Comedy and the plays of Aristophanes in particular. World War II was the catalyst that finally brought the Theatre of the Absurd to life. The global nature of this conflict and the resulting trauma of living under threat of nuclear annihilation put into stark perspective the essential precariousness of human life. It openly rebelled against conventional theatre. It was, as Ionesco called it “anti-theatre”. It was surreal, illogical, conflictless and plotless. The dialogue often seemed to be complete gibberish. The language they use is often ludicrous, and following the cyclical patter, the play seems to end in precisely the same condition it began, with no real change having occurred. In fact, it is sometimes referred to as “the play where nothing happens.”
- What is Syllogism?
A syllogism is a kind of logical argument in which one proposition (the conclusion) is inferred from two others (the premises) of a certain form. For example:
Major premise: All humans are mortal.
Minor premise: Socrates is a human.
Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.
- What is Absolutism?
Moral absolutism is the belief that there are absolute standards against which moral questions can be judged, and that certain actions are right or wrong, devoid of the context of the act. "Absolutism" is often philosophically contrasted with moral relativism, which is a belief that moral truths are relative to social, cultural, historical or personal references, and to situational ethics, which holds that the morality of an act depends on the context of the act. Moral absolutists believe that morals are inherent in the laws of the universe, the nature of humanity, the will or character of God or gods, or some other fundamental source. They regard actions as inherently moral or immoral.
- What is Relativism?
Relativism is the idea that some elements or aspects of experience or culture are relative to, i.e., dependent on, other elements or aspects.
Common statements that might be considered relativistic include:
"That's true for you but not for me"
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"
"You can't judge other cultures by the standards of your own" .
What is the Purpose of Absurdism?
The pupose of this play is made to make the audience question the things that they think they know. For instance, with Syllogism we learn that A+B is the same as B+C and therefore A+C should also be the same. But in this play we have to question logic. For instance, in the begining of the play we will hear the story of Bobby Watson. Though we draw many conclusions the script changes them. We are never correct on whether or not Bobby has kids or if Mrs. Bobby Watson has regular feature or if she does not have regular features. Also when the Martins are talking about their daughter. We conclude with syllogism that the daughter is same but Mary tells us differently.
In conclusion the pupose of this Absurd comedy is that it is not gibberish. The purpose of the language and the way the plot to set up is for us to take away from this that nothing is Absolute. Everything is Relative. Syllogism is not always correct. And Absurdism is made for us to question logic.
Define these common London words:
W.C.: the water closet or toilet
Flat: word for an apartment or loft
Underground: word for the subway, "mind the gap"
Questions To Think About During The Production:
1. Did this production meet the characteristics of Theatre of the Absurd?
2. Was the use of language by the actors used properly?
3. Did the aspect of time effect the play?
4. What is the purpose of the Characters?
5. How does effect of the Smiths and Martins switching places affect the end of the play?
Websites to help you with the play:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bald_Soprano : a brief summary and information about the origin of the play. This website also contains links to explain other aspects of the play.
- http://www.theatrehistory.com/misc/bald_soprano.html : a synopsis and analysis of the play that should be explored by anyone attempting the play.
- http://www.theatrehistory.com/misc/theatre_of_the_absurd.html :a summary on Theatre of the Absurd.
- http://www.iln.org.uk/iln_years/year/1965.htm :news from 1965 London.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London : information about London.
Dramaturgs Statement:
The Bald Soprano is a work of sheer brilliance and is the perfect example of Theatre of the Absurd and the ideas that come along with that genre of theatre. Before this show ever gets produced I think that there are certain things that the production team should talk about so that everyone has the same mind set.
The first thing that I think the production team should be very aware of is what Theatre of the Absurd actually is. There are many misconceptions about what this genre means and how it should be produced. There are those who believe that Absurdism automatically means that the certain production that is being done should be funny and that it is wacky in a laugh out loud sense. Also many times those doing the play are so focused on trying to make this play funny that they then decide to turn it into a slapstick comedy just in hopes of an easy laugh. However, Absurdism does not mean that it should be hilariously funny but that it should make you think. The traits of Absurdism are surreal, illogical, conflictless, and plotless. To many it is considered anti-theatre. With that being said, those are the qualities that those who are producing this show should stick to when deciding to put this show on.
One other thing I think we should think about is the focus on language. When audiences see Theatre of the Absurd for the first time, they often feel that they are just listening to a whole bunch of “gobbledygook”. That is most definitely not the case. Ionesco wrote this play while he was attempting to learn how to speak English. Therefore I think that special attention should be made to the language itself. What do the words mean? Why are theses specific sentences important? Through the use of language what is Ionesco trying to get the audience to question about life and language?
Another important thing to consider is the location in which this play is set and how it affects the characters. If this play is being produced in America then I think that there has to be an extreme amount of research that must be made to ensure the quality of play. The playwrite was French and thusly setting it in London was especially meaningful for Ionesco. Not only that but in the script there are some words that are Britsh Slang words and references to places in London. So attention must be paid to those words and also the habits and qualities that are those belonging to the people of England
When thinking about what to do with the design and how everything should look I believe that that is totally up to the discretion of the director and creative team. However I can not stress enough the importance of language of the play. We don’t want anything to distract from that. Also back to the idea of Absurdism there are those who believe that the genre means that creatively it should be sort of out there and that nothing should be realistic. That is far from the truth. However I do not think that you can’t be unrealistic in design but back to what I said before, you shouldn’t have anything that distracts from the play. The set should only help the script not take away from it.
The last thing that I believe the production team should consider is that The Bald Soprano is not a play that you can just through together. This is not the play that you can put up after 3 weeks of rehearsal. This should be a play that you have an extreme rehearsal process with. I believe that it is important to have the cast speak with each other about what the play means and how the language effects the life of each character. Not only that but this play has a lot to do with relationships and how the characters interact with one another. You should also consider that but the production team should decide the purpose of each character to the surrealism of Absurdism.
In conclusion this play is not an easy one to produce but when the production team concentrates on certain things such as what Absurdism is, the language, and all of the creative aspects it can turn into a real piece of art.
