February 2011
La Cantatrice Chauve by Eugene Ionesco, a play that has been described as belonging to the ‘Theatre of the Absurd’, really embodied the term ‘Absurd’ and was excellently portrayed by a cast of Lower Sixth IB Standard Level French students. We knew that we were in for an evening of the ‘bizarre’ from the very start of the play as Fleur Nash enthusiastically described the very English couples we were about to meet.
With a play like this, it is difficult to really pinpoint where the plot began and ended. As with many plays in the Theatre of the Absurd genre, the underlying theme of La Cantatrice Chauve is not immediately clear, but it has been suggested that it expresses the futility of meaningful communication in modern society. Thus the plot revolves around the Smiths played energetically by Maggie Kupfersberger and Matt Hitchens who have invited another couple, the Martins, Holly Morgan and Charlie MacKrill over for a visit. They are joined later by the Smiths' maid, Mary (Aisha Bennnett) and the local fire chief (Alex Tocili) who is also Mary's lover. The couples engage in meaningless banter, telling stories and relating nonsensical poems. At one point, Mrs. Martin converses with her husband as if he were a stranger she just met and Mary the maid adds her own rather rude and cynical interjections.
The plot thickens, dramatically exposing the secret relationship between Mary (now played by Charlotte Wickenden) and the fire chief. Confused? You would imagine so, but at this point in the play, the audience was well prepared for interesting and sudden shifts in the plot like this. In a burst of affection and joy Charlotte did the most comical flip of the leg commonly used in old romantic black-and-white movies when a young damsel is in love. I personally loved this moment as it really captured Charlotte’s character showing the soft and romantic side of Mary the maid.
The play then spiraled into a mix of chaotic scenes, full of hilarious contradictory conversations that kept us on our toes the whole evening, not wanting to be left behind in the fast-paced drama which ended with the exact same scene it started with only with the second couple.
On the whole it was an incredibly entertaining evening full of humour, culture and madness! Praise must go to Ms Cramoisan and her technical team for the excellent direction and production of this very funny piece!
Kellen Maganjo