From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – Origin / The idea for the play came to Ionesco while he was trying to learn English with the Assimil method. Impressed by the contents of the dialogues, often very sober and strange, he decided to write an absurd play named L’anglais sans peine (“English without toil”). Other possible titles which were considered included Il pleut des chiens et des chats, (“It’s raining cats and dogs”, translated in French literally); “L’heure anglaise” and “Big Ben Follies”.
Its actual title was the result of an error in rehearsal by actor Henri-Jacques Huet: the fire chief’s monologue initially included a mention of “l’institutrice blonde” (“the blonde schoolteacher”), but Huet said “la cantatrice chauve”, and Ionesco, who was present, decided to re-use the phrase.
Overview / The Smiths are a traditional couple from London who have invited another couple, the Martins, over for a visit. They are joined later by the Smiths’ maid, Mary, and the local fire chief, who is also Mary’s lover. The two families engage in meaningless banter, telling stories and relating nonsensical poems. At one point, Mrs. Martin converses with her husband as if he were a stranger she just met. As the fire chief turns to leave, he mentions “the bald soprano” in passing, which has a very unsettling effect on the others. Mrs. Smith replies that “she always styles her hair the same way.” After the Fire Chief’s exit, the play devolves into a series of complete non-sequiturs with no resemblance to normal conversation. It ends with the two couples shouting in unison “It’s not that way. It’s over here!” (“C’est pas par là, c’est par ici!” ) right before a blackout occurs. When the lights come back on, the scene starts from the beginning with the Martins reciting the Smiths’ lines from the beginning of the play for a while before the curtain closes.
Credits / Dear Andrea Belfi, lately I listen to your music a lot. Specially the album Wege nr A. By chance your work came together with mine. During this performance I’m playing with the listener’s perceptions of time and timing… So I’m writing you with the following question. Am I allowed to use your composition? Note – yes Andrea gave his permission.
