The Bald Prima Donna, written by Eugène Ionesco, translated by Donald Watson
performed at The Network Theatre, The Cockpit Theatre and The Gatehouse Theatre
Director: Paul Hoskins
Movement Director/Coach: Stefanie Sommer
Prdoucer/Assistant Director/Stage Manager: Charlotte Mackintosh
Performed by: Peter Easterbrook, Alexander Craggs (Network Theatre), Guy Remy, Sarah Dorsett (Network Theatre), Annie McKenzie, Griselda Williams, Alice Devine (Cockpit & Gatehouse), Brian Merry (Cockpit & Gatehouse)
Welcome to the suburbs of London and the home of Mr and Mrs Smith. The Martins have popped in for a game of whist. Or is it dinner? Nobody seems quite sure. Why are they four hours late? Where has Mary the Maid been all afternoon? Is she really a famous detective? And why is the local fire chief hiding in the shrubbery?
Ionesco's exploration of the frailties of language, and of the absurdity that arises out of our every day failures to communicate, is more relevant than ever. Slip of the Lip Theatre draws out the poignant contemporary relevance while staying faithful to the text and stage directions of Donald Watson's original translation of this 1950s absurdist classic.
The Bald Prima Donna is Ionesco's iconoclastic, absurdist masterwork about distressed communication and that maddening English habit of saying one thing and meaning something else entirely.
Praise for The Bald Prima Donna:
"A pitch-perfect production... Some of the most accomplished actors I saw anywhere across the Fringe bring a delicious Joe Ortonish quality to the physical comedy... Slip of the Lip Theatre Company prove adept in remaining true to Ionesco's intentions by teetering between absurdism and realism while retaining a naturalistic sheen .. Just for once, I should have indeed been happy to go round again." (Plays International Magazine)