Review: Boulevard Stages Ionesco's Grand Work of Art THE BALD SOPRANO in Grand Hall

"A work of art is above all an adventure of the mind," quotes Eugène Ionesco, the author of the Boulevard Theatre's charming and provocative production Bald Soprano.. Ionesco, considered one of the forerunners of absurd/surreal theater, wrote the one-act play (90 minutes, no intermission) at the beginning of his career in 1948. A time in his forties when he first began dabbling in the "anti-play," an artistic comment on cultural and social conversation and mores, seen from his French perspective that had survived the devastation of Paris and other European countries, including the Nazi invasions and regime during World War II.

Director Mark Bucher stages the avant-garde play at the East Side Plymouth Church using their Grand Chapel Hall for the theater--a perfect setting for Ionesco's two English couples to meet and mind spar through their conversation. Surrounded by a massive, two story stucco fireplace, high beamed ceilings and numerous oak doors to open and close, the play literally comes alive in this elegant space. Black and white costumes touched with red accents unify this sophisticated production with bourgeoisie ambiance and channel English upper crust society.

Ionesco's bizarre adventure begins with a series of clock chimes that ring randomly through the performance, sometimes 25 times in one setting. Of course, no 25 hours of time exists, especially on a time piece and that is exactly the point. What difference does time hold in one's life, especially after a horrendous war where so many lives were lost? Bucher's young cast overflows with chic talent to carry off the mind bending script to follow.

Zoe Schwartz plays Mrs. Smith, who explains in a crisp monologue her friends the "Bobby Watsons," what they ate for dinner, and the daily goings on in non-sequitur sentences with delightful ease. Mitch Weindorf's Mr. Smith clicks his response to his wife's chatter while reading the paper, often turning the pages upside down and every which way around. The pair captures the same magnetic chemistry in this performance achieved in the Boulevard's previous production, Handle With Care.

The Smiths plan on entertaining Mr. and Mrs. Martin, JJ Gatesman and Sasha Katherine Sigel in these roles, This couple loses and finds each other in one long conversation between the two of them by discovering they live and sleep in the same flat, in the same room, and lie in the same bed, with the same color bed cover, which is most "curious, coincidental and bizarre."

When the two couples interact, hilarity ensues, and while flirting with the others' spouses. Enter the Smith's German maid, a completely sassy Hannah Klapperich-Mueller, to explain the unusual circumstances and match wits and lips with the London Fire Inspector, looking for fire to put out when he is unable to find one. Hugh Blewett tackles this role with appropriate warmth and passion, and meets his match in the German maid.

Despite the surreal conversations and situations, these six talented, up and coming actors develop a vibrant intimacy and sensual affection for Ionesco's absurd play with words that tantalize the audience. When Schwartz sashays through the aisles as Mrs. Smith to answer the door at the back of the hall singing "My Country "tis of Thee," which is uniquely American, but sung to the melody of the British patriotic anthem "God Save the Queen," the irony can be palpable and fascinating.

Sensual and sensational, The Bald Soprano rates as an exceptional theater value for the coming weekend---an adventure to ruminate over and savor because a smile will gently appear on the audience's lips the entire week afterwards when remembering this production. Interlaced between the comedy and bizarre conversations, Ionesco delves into cultural truth regarding marriage, social conventions and what a person expects from their "normal" cause and effect actions during day to day experiences, often taken for granted. The playwright posits what might occur when what other than what is expected happens. Using merely how when a doorbell rings, the expectation becomes that someone will be there when the bell is answered and the door opened.

The doors open and close in the Grand Hall at Plymouth Church, both through the performance, and at the entrance to the red brick building so people can fill the chairs for this absolutely fabulous adventure of the mind, Presented by the Boulevard's exceptional young troupe, these actors breathe fresh contemporary vibes into Ionesco's The Bald Soprano. Where the actors appreciate their well deserved applause while accepting the premise as Ionesco believes, "It is not the answers that enlighten, but the questions."

Boulevard Theatre presents The Bald Soprano at Plymouth Church, 2717 East Hampshire, through May 8. For information on the Boulevard Theatre or tickets to the performance, please call: 414.744.5757 or visit www.boulevardtheatre.com.