Line and Staging Moments:

 

            Favorite Line: Mr. Smith says to Mrs. Smith, “Oh, my little ducky daddles, what a little spitfire you are!” (4) In the original French, the line reads, “Oh! Mon petit poulet roti, pourquoi craches-tu du feu!” (7 in the French version) which literally translates to “Oh my little roasted chicken, why are you spitting fire?” I find this interesting how this was translated. Either way it makes little to no sense. This was one of the many lines of dialogue I had to memorize in high school French class. I only remember this line due to its general absurdity. To this day when I tell people that I am a proficient French speaker, when asked to say something in French, I recite this line.

 

            Favorite Moment: When the maid, Mary, has returned from her day off, she is recounting what she did today. The Smiths tell her she should not have gone out and that when they gave her the day off, “We didn’t do it on purpose.” (4) which in and of itself is absurd, but Mary answers, “I bought me a chamber pot.” (4) This line could be a non-sequitur which much of the responses in this play have been labeled, but I wonder if this is Ionesco making fun at the English class system, making the lower-class maid thrilled about her purchase of a chamber pot.

 

            Most Significant Line: Mr. Martin says, “There is a native British modesty - forgive me for attempting, yet again, to define my thought - not understood by foreigners, even by specialists, thanks to which, if I may thus express myself...of course, I don’t mean to refer to you…” (14) I think this line is perhaps the key to decoding this entire play. Ionesco is taking the French translations from English phrasebooks to create this play. The play itself ends up being quite nonsensical and this is the author’s justification for the dialogue. To Ionesco, the French, and perhaps many other non-Bits, British mannerisms defy explanation, despite the long-winded attempts to do so, further demonstrating the futility of everything.

 

            Most Significant Moment: I think the most significant moment in this play is when the dialogue descends into repetitive screaming nonsense and then the play repeats. This is where it becomes clear that nothing matters and we are all trapped in a repetitive life of nonsense, which is thought to be the entire goal of “Theatre of the Absurd.”

 

Positives

 

1. The Bald soprano has been in continuous production since 1957 and is well known. It is a popular production among high schools and universities. It serves as perhaps the most famous example of the “Theatre of the Absurd.” The Bald Soprano has also proven to stand up to a number of interpretations all with a great deal of success making this an accessible choice for many performance groups.

2. It is short and has the potential to be repeated to fit various time frames. This would be a great choice for an all-day theatre festival and can be performed continuously. There have been productions that lasted up to 24 hours or more. 

3. The play would be easy to stage in Vasey as well as many other locales as all the action takes place in one room that doesn’t require any set changes, just entrances and exits. It only requires 6 actors and with a single set and small cast would be inexpensive to stage.

 

Negatives

 

1. This play has a great deal of repetition, which is part of the style of the Theatre of the Absurd, but for some, this may prove to be merely annoying. Without a decent understanding of what one is about to see, this play may not resonate with some audience members. It is much like the abstract art of the time period where the artist’s intentions aren’t apparent without contact.

2. This has got to be a difficult play to learn and memorize for actors. With so much repetition, specifically in the dialogue between Mr. and Mrs. Martin and the final monologue from the fireman. With a theme of repetition of absurd statements and non-sequiturs, how would an actor relate their lines to the ones before? Actors are taught to listen and respond truthfully and appropriately. For this play, that is not necessarily the case.

 

Questions

 

1. The play is set in an English living room with English everything else. How important is realism in sets and props? Can we take liberties without taking away from the absurdity of the lines and plots?

2. It has become clear that the process of The Bald Soprano the staple of the Theatre of the Absurd that it is today, changes were made during its early staging. The director Nicolas Bataille had significant contributions which are noted in some publications. We would need to decide if we would be performing this play as it was written initially by Ionesco or as it became with the contributions of the cast and Bataille?

3. Would we allow the play to repeat and when would we choose the stopping point? As mentioned above, this play can be looped to fit just about any time period. Would we do a traditional staging where audiences take their seats and the play begins or could it be a “drop-in” performance where audiences can pop in and see one iteration and leave or stay longer
    

Crack / Thread

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I was assigned to read this play in high school French class, and let’s just say I skimmed it lightly. I listened in class, read and learned the dialogues the teacher wanted us to reproduce and I honestly don’t remember much more. I thought it would be very interesting to revisit this with play as a theatre professional and doing a proper response and analysis. I also have a version of the play in its original French and I plan on using it as a resource for creating the gloss and other parts of the D-file. If I come across anything that I don’t understand, I will cross-reference it with the French to find the best reasoning behind a line or stage direction.
 

Audio and Visual Moments

 

1. The banging of the clock, which is altered in volume at different times of the play. There is one spot where they say it’s to startle the audience while the actors don’t react, “The clock strikes once, very loud. This striking of the clock must be so loud that it makes the audience jump. The Martins do not hear it.” (6)

2. The doorbell it must be rung several times, only the last time it is rung, does the Fireman appear.

3. The author includes lighting directions which signals the restart of the play at the end.

 

Concretes

 

1. The clock. It strikes whenever it wants, however much it wants. It is always contrary to whatever time it really is in the scene. In scene 1, the clock strikes 17 times, then Mrs. Smith has the first line of dialogue, stating, “There, it’s nine o’clock.” (1) Later Mr. Smith says, “It runs badly. It is contradictory, and always indicates the opposite of what the hour really is.” (14)

2. English everything, “A middle-class English interior, with English armchairs. An English evening. Mr. Smith, an Englishman, seated in his English armchair and wearing English slippers, is smoking his English pipe and reading an English newspaper, near an English fire. He is wearing English spectacles and a small gray English mustache. Beside him, in another English armchair, Mrs. Smith, an Englishwoman, is darning some English socks. A long moment of English silence. The English clock strikes 17 English strokes.” (1)

3. Fire chief in costume with enormous shining helmet, “He is of course in uniform and is wearing an enormous shining helmet” (9)

 

Echoes, Repetitions and Returnings

 

1. The scene between Mr. and Mrs. Martin, where they are recalling whether or not they know each other, is entirely repetition, solely for the purpose of repetition I feel. As we know Ionesco was inspired by the Assimil method of learning English which includes a book and a recording where the learner is expected to listen to and repeat phrases in combination with daily lessons. These lines contain many non-essential phrases that change the meaning of the lines depending on inflection. The stage direction says that these are to be delivered “in voices that are drawling, monotonous, a little singsong, without nuance,” further increasing their repetitive nature and demonstrating the limitations of language for communication.

2. There is a section of a scene where the Smiths talk about Bobby Watson. “And Bobby Watson's aunt, old Bobby Watson, might very well, in her turn, pay for the education of Bobby Watson, Bobby Watson's daughter. That way Bobby, Bobby Watson's mother, could remarry. Has she anyone in mind?” (3)

3. Ionesco repeatedly uses words that have multiple meanings, like “well done” meaning both accomplished well and cooked well, like a steak. Mrs. Smith says, “The last time she did not do them well. I do not like them when they are well done” (1)

4. Characters state something and then immediately contradict themselves. In one example, Mrs. Smith is talking about a husband and wife both called Bobby Watson. She says, “you could never tell one from the other when you saw them together.” (3) Then, only a few lines later, Mrs. Smith says, “I’ve never seen her. Is she pretty?” when asked about Bobby Watson.

5. The whole play repeats!

           

Summary:

 

Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano is a fun romp exploring language, life and the nature of being. This was Ionesco’s first play and he was inspired by the Assimil method of learning English where phrases were recorded and repeated back which is apparent from the play’s repetitive nature. This play is an important work in the “Theatre of the Absurd” where characters repeat meaningless actions, repeat themselves, recite clichés, and make a spectacle out of the mundane. The play is a good running length with a small cast making it a more inexpensive choice to produce.