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Eugene Ionesco
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The Bald Soprano: & Other Plays Kindle Edition

by Eugène Ionesco (Author), Donald M. Allen (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 out of 5 stars 99 ratings
This Absurdist masterpiece by the author of Rhinoceros “is explosively, liberatingly funny…a loony parody with a climax which is an orgy of non-sequiturs” (The Observer).

Written in 1950, Eugene Ionesco’s first play, The Bald Soprano, was a seminal work of Absurdist theatre. Today, it is celebrated around the world as a modern classic for its imagination and sui generis theatricality. A hilarious parody of English manners and a striking statement on the alienation of modern life, it was inspired by the strange dialogues Ionesco encountered in foreign language phrase books.

Ionesco went on to become an internationally renowned master of modern drama, famous for the comic proportions and bizarre effects that allow his work to be simultaneously hilarious, tragic, and profound. As Ionesco has said, “Theater is not literature. . . . It is simply what cannot be expressed by any other means.”
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  1. Print length
    162 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Grove Press
  4. Publication date
    March 31, 2015
  5. File size
    2.4 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Not Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Drama in 11 scenes by Eugene Ionesco, who called it an "antiplay." It was first produced in 1950 and published in 1954 as La Cantatrice chauve; the title is also translated The Bald Prima Donna. The play, an important example of the Theater of the Absurd, consists mainly of a series of meaningless conversations between two couples that eventually deteriorate into babbling. -- The Merriam-Webster Encylopedia of Literature --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00VKI3THW
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grove Press (March 31, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 31, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2.4 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 162 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 99 ratings

About the author

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Eugene Ionesco

Eugene Ionesco

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
99 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • David Lohrey
    5.0 out of 5 stars great
    Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    great
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  • H. Schneider
    5.0 out of 5 stars Impossible is nothing
    Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2008
    Verified Purchase
    I sort of grew up with Ionesco. This crazy Romanian turned Frenchman with his absurd stage plays, the Bald Soprano and stuff like that, was synonym for art trash in yahoo speak. He wrote like abstract painters painted. Good honest citizens detested that kind of stuff and complained when theatres and museums who were subsidized by public funds played or diplayed it. Ionesco was the equivalent of Picasso in my home town red neck cultural perspective. (Please note that I am German, not Kentuckian.
    Apologies to Kentucky, should I have said Oklahoma? Anyway, German backwoods are no different.)
    Then I take a big leap with the time machine. No encounters with Ionesco since maybe the 60s. Plenty with Picasso though, who became one of my heroes (and one of my favorite writers, P. O'Brian, wrote a good biography, which I reviewed here, but I pulled the review out since nobody was interested).
    And now my daughter, who is doing her IB with drama as elective subject, chose The Lesson for her graduation stage production. I read it first and told her she is crazy. Nobody can play this mad professor who kills his private students after endless absurd monologues on philology (which leads to calamity, as the maid says). As any self-respecting 18 year old would, she ignored my ignorant advice and did it anyway. She found a fantastic actress to do the mad old professor, a 16 year old American Chinese girl who must have been born for this part. And perfect fits for the pupil and the maid as well.
    I have not had so much fun in a theatre for a long time. Hail to old Ionesco! And kudos to the producer and director of the play on this day!
    19 people found this helpful
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  • Amber L. Tottingham
    4.0 out of 5 stars Bald Soprano
    Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    funny! This play has been used several times in my drama classes to create "cuttings" for competition. FIRE - FIRE - FIRE
    One person found this helpful
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  • Walter Mazil
    5.0 out of 5 stars I love The Bald Soperano.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    My wife and I take parts in the play and have fun with it.
    One person found this helpful
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  • tori mccandless
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good quality
    Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    The product was delivered in good time and the product is of good quality for used.
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  • zl
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very good service
    Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Book came way before the deadline and in promised condition too!
    Very happy. :)
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  • John Middlesworth
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ionesco via Donald Allen
    Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    This is the translation of The Bald Soprano I learned to love 30 years ago and I still think Allen's cadences and word choices are wonderfully apt and funny. What a daring, amazing play it is, even today.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • insertwittyhandle
    2.0 out of 5 stars I'm surprised how much I disliked reading Ionesco's plays this go around
    Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I'm surprised how much I disliked reading Ionesco's plays this go around. I used to be a huge fan of him when I was younger. I still appreciate the absurd, but The Bald Soprano just felt like I was reading a thirteen year old pretentious kid's attempt at play writing. It might be that we're in a world where the absurd is the norm (alternate truths, nonsensical random acts of violence, yelling (talking) heads, reality TV, etc) so it is easy to forget to credit the absurdist artists for their novelty.
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Mucktree
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Bald Soprano and other plays
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    I just love Ionescu's work. It makes me laugh. On the surface there is a childish simplicity both in the way he views situations and also within his construct, however, what he actually offers is a complex alternative to the standard accepted view of life. Beyond what can be considered as basic humour there is the sadness and melancholy of a man who despairs at the way the world considers everything in two dimensions, a system of control promoted by politicians throughout history and that continues today. Read Ionescu and discover a new view point.
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  • Lauren McCallum
    4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 3, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I bought to be able to broaden my knowledge of absurdist monologues that i could perform after summer when i go into the second year of my acting course. I love absurdist theatre and so far Ionesco has not disappointed. Currently making my way through The Bald Soprano and love, hopefully the others will be just as good, if not better..
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  • LD
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great and witty humour
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 11, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Great plays from a famous writer. It makes one laugh while reading as it shows human faults and snobbery. Bought as a gift for a colleague who teaches drama.
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