The Ionesco pair was the “double feature” of The Bald Soprano and The Lesson by Eugene Ionesco. Both of these pieces play on the absurd.
The Bald Soprano is about... Well…… nothing. The play starts out with a couple having a discussing that does not make logical. During one sequence, the actors spend five minutes uttering random words while running around the theatre. There is also a narrator with subtitles “explaining” the action of the play. Commonly the narration and subtitles do not match the action nor each other. There is also a clock that despite being told what time it is, often does not ring the correct number of times or uses the same bell.
The Lesson starts out with a professor giving a girl a “lesson” so that she can pass a test to get her doctorate. The play plays of of a drama, but turns into this weird horror parody. The professor causes the girl to get headaches, which causes the professor to get mad, and pushes one of the characters to kill the other one.
Pre-Show Music
Pre-Show Speech
Ring Cycle
She Throws Socks
Kill Sequence
Headache Melody
Playwright: Eugene Ionesco Director: Tom Mitchell
Set Designer: Moon Jung Kim Costume Designer: Amy Senffner & Jessica Trier Lighting Designer: Brianna Sue Johnson
Studio Theatre at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts Photos by: KCPA Staff