Covenant College is presenting comedy “The Bald Soprano”

Acclaimed comedy, “The Bald Soprano,” will make a brief appearance on the Covenant College stage this 20162017 season Friday, Sept. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 7, at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 8, at 2:30 p.m.

The play, written by absurdist playwright Eugène Ionesco, toys with the differences between speaking and talking, hearing and listening and the chaos inspired by miscommunication.

“I don’t know if farce is the right word, but at least you will hurt yourself laughing at some point,” said director and theater professor, Camille Hallstrom.

Soprano begins with the necessary ingredients for any living room comedy: two married couples, a grandfather

clock, two armchairs, a maid and an unsuspected visitor. But, that’s where the similarities end. The play is set in 1950s London, but its themes of onesided arguments and disconnected conversations remains poignant during the present epoch of Snapchat and Twitter.

“Discourse really has disintegrated in the current culture,” Hallstrom said. “We think we are communicating, but really, we are just saying the sounds that our side likes to applaud.”

And if the dialogue sounds like it was copied from an English primer like Fun with Dick and Jane, it’s because it was.

“Ionesco was this Romanian sitting in a Paris hotel trying to learn English with one of those phrasebooks and you know how absurdsounding those phrases are,” Hallstrom said. “That’s what gave him the idea for this play.”

Junior, Abigail DeGraaf, playing hostess Mrs. Smith, said the production reminds her of a family reunion where multiple inlaws meet for the first time.

“The play doesn’t make sense and that’s why it’s so funny,” she said. “There will definitely be some humor coming from the blocking and staging, but the majority will come from the absurd dialogue, the spontaneity of it all, the actions and reactions as well. Somebody will say something random, then somebody will say something more random and it just builds on itself!”

The Bald Soprano is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

There will be an aftershow discussion panel Sept. 30, featuring Covenant French professor Jiewon Baek, linguistic professor Nola Stephens and director, Hallstrom.

Tickets will be $7 for adults and $5 for seniors, students, and staff. Viewers may also attend a final dress rehearsal Thursday, Sept. 29, at 8 p.m. with $5 tickets for adults and $3 for seniors, students, and staff.

To reserve tickets or to ask any questions, call the box office at 7064191051 or boxoffice@covenant.edu.