The play “The bald soprano” is beautifully composed by the Romanian-French writer named Eugene Ionesco. It was premiered in 1950 and at it falls in the theatre of the Absurds.
There were six characters in the play, and each was one-dimensional. Six people were needed to play the roles because of the presence of all at the climax. There were three scenes in the play altogether. Only two locations were there; one is the lounge and the other one drawing room. The audience was seated throughout the play because the concept of the play was relatable to the real lives of the people, so they were engaged.
Mr. Smith, similar to every one of the characters in the play, is one dimensional. He puts on a show of being a stuffy white collar class Englishman, and his character doesn’t get considerably more profound than that. Mrs. Smith, similar to her significant other, is quite one-dimensional. She gabs like him as well – in a series of banalities, nonsensical conclusions, and insipid perceptions. Mr. Martin accomplishes the astonishing achievement of being much more nonspecific and dull than his partner Mr. Smith. He offers not very many sentiments on anything and echoes what everyone, particularly Mr. Smith, says. Mrs. Martin is to Mrs. Smith as Mr. Martin is to Mr. Smith. Much the same as her better half, this woman figures out how to be a blander, more nonspecific variant of her partner. Mary is a great character. For one, she doesn’t appear to know “her place.” When the Martins initially enter, she complains at them for being late. She challenges the present state of affairs by setting out to discuss a sonnet within sight of the Smiths and their visitors. The Fire Chief shows up haphazardly about halfway through the play. He’s committed to this activity. It’s hazy concerning whether the Fire Chief has any genuine fondness for Mary, however. He doesn’t attempt to prevent the Smiths from pushing her offstage.
The exposition of the play is not spoken, but it is evident from the setting. One can see it in the play.The play has a unique feature of rising from stasis to climax and then drop back to stasis. When all the four characters are talking, Mr. And Mrs. Smith and Mr. And Mrs. Martin, the players are at stasis but the entry of fire chief and when he sees Mary, his first love, it takes it to the climax. The language of the play in English, but there are some sentences in French too which captivate the literary audience.
The major theme of the play is language and communication. We all sit together, but no one is there to listen. Each of them is looking for a gap to say his word and share his experiences. The disintegration of language at the end of the play proves his idea. Also, he discussed memory. He tried to show that we forget important things at the time. Although, he exaggerated it. The theme of isolation floats in the play to show that characters are alone and they are talking rubbish to themselves only.
The Leader
The Leader is also composed by Eugene Ionesco. It was first premiered in 1953, and it is also from the theatre of the Absurd.
There are six characters in the play. They are all playing their roles, and six people were needed to do it. The stage has only one location, the location of The Leader is not shown but spoken by the announcer that he is coming from there. The audience is bound to the play because of the mystery that who is the leader and why is everyone chanting about him. The connection of the audience to the play is real as the two lovers meet and they say, they admire each other which is relatable to the people. The exposition of the play is spoken by the announcer now and then. He dictates the scene to the Announcer. The stasis is the point when Announcer asks the admirer and the girl to keep quiet and not to move or else, they will ruin everything. There are few disruptions to the stasis by the admirers when they keep on questioning about his whereabouts. The climax of the play comes with the entry of the leader. When he enters, they see that he has got no head. However, an announcer states that he has brains and they all cheer up but forget their identity.
The language of the play is very simple and classical. It is all in English. The Announcer is the one who informs the rest of the people that Leader will come their way. Two admirers have the same love for the Leader, and they cheer him. The Young Lover loves the girl called the Girl Friend in the pay. Both of them love each other, and they plan to marry.
The Leader symbolizes thoughtless talk utilized by one in energy to influence others. The Leader has no identity. He makes an insincere effort of some other lawmaker, kissing infants’ heads and shaking hands. The legislative issues that he speaks to prompts the depersonalization of everybody, symbolized by the Announcer, the two Lovers, and the two Admirers.
The absurdists underlined depersonalization and loss of character because the world is ludicrous. The world is silly to people since we are not equipped for knowing ourselves, regardless of our will to know. We need to know where we originated from and our motivation, yet we can’t know these things. This is the thing that makes the world preposterous, and this is the reason we don’t have any acquaintance with ourselves. The absurdists, featured in Ionesco’s play, caution perusers not to permit “pioneers” to choose for them what in all actuality. Nobody individual can know such certainties more so than another, and enabling another to choose for us is unsafe.
References
Esslin, Martin. “The theatre of the absurd.” The Tulane Drama Review(1960): 3-15.
Ionesco, Eugene, et al. The bald soprano. Cinema Guild, 1999.
Ionesco, Eugène. Rhinoceros and other plays. Vol. 259. Grove Press, 1960.
Schuster, Marilyn R. “Chapter 7: Absurd Apotheoses.” Eugène Ionesco Revisited. Deborah B. Gaensbauer. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1996. Twayne’s World Authors Series 863.
