The Bald Soprano

The Theatre of the Absurd is a radical theatrical movement associated with works of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, written in the wake of World War II. The movement took off in France before spreading out to other European countries and the US. These plays responded to a variety of social anxieties of the time, including the absurd fragmentation of human experience, the struggle over human rights, and the constant threat of violence and annihilation, all which resulted in alienation. The movement took inspiration from existential and absurdist philosophy, particularly Albert Camus’s 1942 essay “The Myth of Sisyphus.” The figure of Sisyphus, cursed to forever push a boulder up a mountain, just to have it fall back down again and start the process over, became a strong symbol of the absurdist movement. Absurdists ascribed to the belief that life was meaningless, making the human desire to search for meaning ultimately absurd, akin to the absurd plight of Sisyphus. The term “Theatre of the Absurd” was coined in 1960 by critic Martin Esslin, in his book by the same name.

Absurdist plays resist traditional play structure and logic, defying audience expectation for a “story.” Instead, these plays present absurd situations where communication and meaning break down and any attempt of the audience to “make sense” or form a story from what is presented is frustrated. Common characteristics of Theatre of the Absurd include absence of logical structure; little action, plot, or characterization; the disintegration of meaning in communication and language; meaningless action or “busyness” on stage that does not propel the plot forward; physical comedy; and repetition. These plays often don't reach a sense of fulfillment, conclusion, or happy ending. The characters and audience instead muddle through a search for meaning that ultimately dissolves or is unattainable.

Eugène Ionesco’s 1950 anti-play The Bald Soprano is a seminal work of the Theatre of the Absurd movement. Like the majority of texts of this movement, this play specifically rejects the following of plot. Rather the play presents situations in which language and meaning become nonsensical. Characters with no distinct personality are caught in never-ending, monotonous cycles of absurd dialogue, with little plot development or action. The absurdity of these spectacles often makes a farce of the human need to create meaning from the randomness of the world, reflecting existentialist interests in meaninglessness and alienation. Other playwrights of the movement include Samuel Beckett, best known for his absurdist play Waiting for Godot, as well as Arthur Adamov, Jean Genet, Harold Pinter, and later Václav Havel and Tom Stoppard.