Reading Order
The Bald SopranoThe Bald Soprano Reading Order
The Bald Soprano (1950) by Eugène Ionesco is the play that inaugurated the Theatre of the Absurd — a drawing-room comedy in which the language of bourgeois social conversation gradually collapses into complete meaninglessness. The Smiths and the Martins observe all the conventions of polite English middle-class life while saying nothing; the Fire Chief arrives looking for a fire that doesn't exist; and at the end of the play, the Martins are in the positions where the Smiths began, and the play apparently starts again. Ionesco said he wrote the play after trying to learn English from a language primer: the sentences about the floor being white and Mrs. Parker having seventeen children gave him the idea for a theater about the emptiness of language that presents itself as communication. The play has been performed continuously since its premiere — the first production in 1950 played to a nearly empty theatre; by the 1960s it was the most-performed play in France.
Where to start
The Bald Soprano (1950) — the complete text. Best Ionesco reading order: The Bald Soprano → The Lesson → The Chairs → Rhinoceros → Exit the King.
Complete The Bald Soprano Book List
- 1Buy
The Bald Soprano
Eugène Ionesco·1950·The complete play — the Smiths, the Martins, the Fire Chief, and the collapse of language. The inaugural text of the Theatre of the Absurd; the first production was directed by Nicolas Bataille at the Théâtre des Noctambules in Paris in 1950 and nearly closed after a week - 2Buy
The Lesson
Eugène Ionesco·1951·The companion — a professor teaching a student, with escalating violence. The companion investigation of the relationship between language and power: where The Bald Soprano investigates the emptiness of social conversation, The Lesson investigates the way that language becomes a weapon of domination - 3Buy
The Chairs
Eugène Ionesco·1952·The companion — the elderly couple and the accumulating empty chairs. The companion investigation of the same subject in a more emotionally devastating key: where The Bald Soprano is a pure comedy of language-as-emptiness, The Chairs is a tragic farce about the emptiness of meaning and the impossibility of transmitting the sum of a life - 4Buy
Rhinoceros
Eugène Ionesco·1959·The companion — the townspeople turning into rhinoceroses. The companion with a more explicit political dimension: where The Bald Soprano investigates the emptiness of bourgeois social convention, Rhinoceros investigates the ease with which that emptiness is colonized by totalitarian conformity - 5Buy
Waiting for Godot
Samuel Beckett·1953·The companion in the Theatre of the Absurd tradition — Didi and Gogo waiting. The companion investigation of the same formal territory (repetition, non-progression, the collapse of meaningful action) from a different theatrical tradition: Irish/French rather than Romanian/French - 6Buy
Notes and Counter Notes
Eugène Ionesco·1964·Ionesco's companion collection of theoretical writings about theater. The companion as self-commentary: Ionesco's reflections on what he was doing in The Bald Soprano and the other plays, including his famous quarrel with Brecht about the relationship between theater and politics - 7Buy
Wittgenstein's Mistress
David Markson·1988·Markson's companion novel about a woman who may be the last person on earth, writing sentences in a house on a beach. The companion investigation of the relationship between language and the world it is supposed to represent: when the language-game runs down, what is left? - 8Buy
How to Do Things with Words
J.L. Austin·1962·Austin's companion lectures on the performative dimension of language. The companion philosophical text to The Bald Soprano as an investigation of what language actually does: Austin argues that language is not primarily descriptive but performative, and the social conventions of speech act theory explain why the Smiths and Martins can say nothing meaningful while observing all the formal requirements of conversation
The Bald Soprano — Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the play called The Bald Soprano?
The title The Bald Soprano (La Cantatrice Chauve) comes from an ad-lib during rehearsal. During a rehearsal, the actor playing the Fire Chief stumbled over his line about 'the institutrice blonde' (the blonde schoolteacher) and said 'la cantatrice chauve' (the bald soprano) instead. Ionesco found this so perfectly surreal that he kept it — and the title, which refers to something that is never explained in the play, became one of the most famous in the theater. At the very end of the play, the Fire Chief mentions 'la cantatrice chauve' in passing; the other characters react with embarrassment and refuse to talk about it. The title is a demonstration of the play's method: a phrase that sounds meaningful but means nothing, used as the title for a play about meaningful-sounding language that means nothing.
Who wrote The Bald Soprano?
The Bald Soprano was written by Eugène Ionesco, who was born in Romania in 1909 and lived most of his adult life in France. Ionesco wrote the play after trying to learn English from a conversation primer; the primer's absurd sentences (the sky is blue, the week has seven days, Mrs. Parker has seventeen children) gave him the idea for a theater of language that presents itself as communication while saying nothing. The play was first produced in 1950 and played to a nearly empty theatre; it gradually found an audience, and by the 1960s it was the most-performed play in France. It has been performed continuously at the Théâtre de la Huchette in Paris since 1957 — the longest-running production in theatrical history. Ionesco is regarded as one of the founders of the Theatre of the Absurd.
Monthly Newsletter
Never miss a big release
Get the most anticipated upcoming books delivered to your inbox once a month — no spam, no filler.
Monthly only. Unsubscribe anytime.
Book links are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, BookReleaseRadar earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.