Romanian-French playwright Eugène Ionesco invented a whole new genre of comedy back in 1950 with his théâtre de l’absurde ground-breaker The Bald Soprano, and if its 2024 City Garage revival is still rough around the edges as of opening weekend, there remains plenty to entertain an audience.

Ionesco throws logic and sanity out the window starting with the play’s opening scene, one which has Mrs. Smith (David E. Frank) going on ad infinitum about the dinner she and Mr. Smith (Andy Kallok) have just eaten while eliciting nothing more than bored grunts from the man of the house.

  When Mr. Smith finally does look up from the newspaper he’s been reading, it’s to announce the death of a certain Bobby Watson, and when his astonished spouse inquires as to when poor Bobby kicked the bucket and her hubby responds with “You know very well that he’s been dead these past two years,” it’s not because Mr. Smith just read about it in the paper that he’s brought up Bobby’s demise but because he only just now remembered it “through an association of ideas.”

And if this isn’t already absurd enough for you (though perfectly logical to Mr. and Mrs. Smith), just wait until Mr. Smith launches into a detailed rundown of the deceased’s family, each and every one of whom is named Bobby Watson.

Things get absurder and absurder when the Smiths’ maid Mary (Courtney Brechemin) announces the arrival of guests Mr. and Mrs. Martin (Bo Robert and Angela Beyer), who despite being married presumably for years, seem absolutely astounded to discover that not only do they come from the same home town, they’ve each taken the same train from their home to the Smiths’ and been seated in the same coach and compartment and seat. (“Number 3 next to the window.”)

And just wait until The Fire Chief (Gifford Irvine) shows up to discuss local events and recite an experimental fable titled “The Dog and the Cow.”

Parisian playgoers must have been scratching their heads in confusion when La Cantatrice Chauve debuted on May 11, 1950, and if later absurdist fare from playwrights like Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, and Edward Albee has since then accustomed audiences to the avant garde, the play that started it all continues to this day to perplex and delight in equal measure.

Director Frédérique Michel and producer Charles A. Duncombe’s new translation from the original French adds to the absurdity by having the quintessentially English Smiths live not in London but in Paris (no explanation given for the change of locale from the Ionesco original) and including occasional snippets of French in the spouses’ gobbledygooky chatter.

Michel keeps her entire cast on the same absurdist page while giving them plenty of unscripted business to accompany Ionesco’s words. (Mrs. Smith’s wacky body spasms each time the clock announces the hour again and again and again are particularly delish.)

Beyer one again proves herself City Garage’s most versatile leading lady as the lusciously loca Mrs. Martin, and Frank, who played Beyer’s illicit male lover in the recent Betrayal, gives Monty Python men-in-drag a run for their money as Mrs. Smith.

Indeed the entire cast is given moments to shine, though perhaps not as brightly as would be the case if line readings were as sharp (and choreographed business as precision-timed) as they will hopefully become later in the run.

Production designers Duncombe (set and lighting), Paul Rubenstein (audio), and Josephine Poinsot (costumes) give The Bald Soprano its trademark City Garage look in gorgeously rich hues of red and blue and black.

Martha Duncan is assistant director.

Since its 1987 debut, Michel and Duncombe’s City Garage has established itself as the most adventurously avant garde of SoCal intimate theaters. Though the membership company’s latest could use more polish and precision, even as is The Bald Soprano adds up to an hour or so of zany absurdist fun.

City Garage, 2525 Michigan Ave. Building T1, Santa Monica.
www.citygarage.org

–Steven Stanley
April 28, 2024
Photos: Paul Rubenstein

Visit www.theatreinla.com/nowplayingrs.php for a review roundup of what’s now playing in theaters around Los Angeles.

Tags: City Garage, Eugene Ionesco, Los Angeles Theater Review