Eugene Ionesco is often considered a “love him or hate him” kind of playwright. Whether or not this is true, after Regent University’s An Evening of Ionesco, I have come to the conclusion that Ionesco is at least not for the faint of heart. Nor for the weak of bladder.

I see Ionesco as an acquired taste. Something you have to sort of work up to. And some of his plays are easier on the palate than others. For example, his play The Chairs (the first of the evening) is a little out of our normal play range, but not so esoteric that the audience is left going “huh?” The Bald Soprano however, (the second play of the evening) definitely takes an open mind and some, well… let’s say “refined” palates. It’s not exactly an easy show for John Q. Playgoer to digest.

Let’s begin with The Chairs. This show is easier on the audience because it includes one tiny, insignificant ingredient that The Bald Soprano does not – a plot. It’s easy to follow and you can understand and relate to the characters. In The Bald Soprano, Ionesco “made language fall apart” – those are his own words. It’s basically about the disintegration of communication, and therefore incredibly hard to follow.

The actors and directors for both shows did wonderful jobs. The incomprehensibility of the script is not their fault. Studying and doing Ionesco is a must for all student actors, it’s just unfortunate that the audience must sit through a very confusing play without the benefit of all that script study. I heard more than one audience member lean over to their date to loudly whisper, “I don’t get it”. Well, as one of those dates responded, “I don’t think you’re supposed to.” So audience members, just sit back, watch, and laugh at people doing ridiculous things. That’s all that really necessary for these two shows.

The Chairs is basically a two-person show, plus a single performer comes in at the end for a rather minor role. The one-sentence version of the plot is: A delusional elderly couple prepares for guests. As the guests arrive, the couple must find chairs for them – hence the title of the piece. The other guests are not really there, and we can’t be quite sure if the couple are actually delusional or if they’re playing “pretend” as they mention in the beginning of the play.

The old couple are played by Kevin James Stidham and Devorah Nelson. Both of these actors have superb characterization and comedic timing. They did an excellent job accelerating the pace, showing range of emotion, and keeping consistency in their interaction with the imaginary characters on stage. They and the director Matthew Scott put on a nigh professional show.

The Bald Soprano, as I said earlier, deconstructs communication. In the beginning, the conversation is absurd but easy to follow. As the show progresses, lines make less and less sense until finally the actors are simply shouting one word lines that are completely unconnected to each other. This is not an easy piece to do well. I believe the actors and director did as well as they could with making the show make sense. Their inflections, characterizations, and emphasis on particular phrases helped to bring the show together – as much as this show can be brought together.

Much of the humor in The Bald Soprano relies on a straight-faced delivery. The characters are completely serious about what they’re saying. Kelly Whitesel as Mrs. Martin was perhaps the best at this deadpan delivery, but all of the actors did a very good job with it. Adam Eugene Hurst as Mr. Martin had an occasional tendency to mug a bit for the audience but I think a lot of that seemed to stem from having a bunch of friends in the audience. Whenever his classmates laughed particularly loudly at Mr. Hurst’s antics, I could practically see the smirk on his face.

In general, the Regent students in the audience definitely seemed to enjoy the show more than the regular audience members.

The set and lights were done with the precision and attention to detail that characterizes most of Regent’s productions. The asymmetrical platforms that serve as a stage contain many convenient hidey holes for tucking away various props. The window in the floor for The Chairs was just plain cool, especially when light was shown through. It did make me a tad uncomfortable when actors walked over it and I could see it bow down a bit from the weight. Fortunately, it was covered by a rug for Bald Soprano, so I was able to forget about it and not worry about the actors’ safety.

The audience was surprisingly small opening night. The space was only about a quarter full and a large number of people left during intermission. While I admit that Ionesco is not for everyone, this had to have been incredibly discouraging for the actors. If you have any interest at all in Absurdism, theatre history, or avant guard (sp?) you should definitely see this show. If you just like to laugh at people doing silly things, you should also see this show. Both shows run about an hour and twenty minutes with a twenty minute intermission, so just make sure you go to the bathroom first.

An Evening of Ionesco runs though March 25^th at Regent University’s Studio Theatre. Call 757.226.4245 for reservations.