Date: Fri 10-Jul-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CAROLL

Quick Words:

Ionesco-Yale-Cabaret-April

Full Text:

(rev "Two By Ionesco" @Yale Summer Cabaret)

Theatre Review--

Absurd Theatre Translates Into A Few Laughs At Summer Cabaret

By June April

NEW HAVEN -- There's a wonderfully applicable quote from Hamlet that

succinctly sums up Two by Ionesco : "Brevity is the soul of wit."

The first of the two short offerings currently playing at Yale's Summer

Cabaret is entitled Foursome , and it was a delicious taste of Theatre of the

Absurd.

The sense of the action was strongly reminiscent of a Liechtenstein (Op Art)

work, with echoing images of the French Surrealist Rene Magritte. The

comic-strip nature of the piece was very effectively brought home by the

staging.

The three male actors -- Dupont, portrayed by John Lenartz; Brennan Brown as

Durand; and Graham Stevens as Martin -- had superb timing and choreographed

action for this little gem. Alicia Roper, as The Pretty Lady, was more

effective in this play than in The Bald Soprano where her voice was at times

shrill to the point of annoyance.

Although Absurdism focuses on the futility of all action, and the

pointlessness of all direction, the Rumanian born Eugene Ionesco leaned

strongly to fatalism, and his characters face their foreordained paths,

stoicly or rebelliously.

Watching The Bald Soprano one was inclined to wonder (as the mind wandered),

if the story or its telling has lost something in the translation from the

original French. First presented in 1950, the title was born through error.

According to some notes in the program, during a rehearsal one of the actors

forgot lines in one of the nonsense soliloquies and extemporaneously

substituted "the bald soprano." Ionesco liked what he heard and changed the

play's title from English Made Easy to The Bald Soprano. That's theatre being

absurd.

In both of the plays, John Lenartz stands out in terms of his

characterizations and clarity of speech. With television and off-Broadway

experiences behind her, Claudia Arenas shows particular promise as an actor.

It will be interesting to observe how her training from the Yale Drama School

will shape her potential.

For ticket information about all Summer Cabaret productions call 432-1567.

Single tickets range from $12-$16. The theatre is at 217 Park Street in New

Haven.