Ents: Arts

Review: The Bald Prima Donna

By Emily Hansed
Published: 17/03/2009

At the University of Sheffield, we have come to expect professional and exciting performances from suTCo, and The Bald Prima Donna, the first production of the semester, was no disappointment.

At times confusing and unsettling but always amusing, this performance captured Eugene Ionesco’s bizarre script perfectly. Those present enjoyed a hilarious evening without fully understanding what it was they had witnessed.

As the audience entered and took their seats in the transformed Drama Studio, now an in-the-round space, we were immediately made to feel slightly uncomfortable as two of the actors were already on stage, clearly in character. This classic technique never fails to bring a forced quiet throughout the auditorium as the audience mutter to one another, deliberating whether the performance has started and whether they’re supposed to talk.

The staging of the production continued to have a huge effect on the audience reception as the actors used it with impressive skill, at times coming very close to us and using direct address, heightening the stream of awkward yet intimate moments throughout the performance.

The set was clearly representative of a traditional middle-class English living room, as the character Mrs. Smith tells us, but her opening speech immediately makes us aware that this is not going to be a ‘normal’ play.

As the director Tom Shallaker states in the programme: ‘This is the English middle class from the absurdist focalization of a French playwright.’ The company have clearly set themselves quite a challenge, as the Theatre of the Absurd is a genre renowned for its difficulties.

It took great confidence for both the director and cast to present some elements of this production. There was a clear danger of parts becoming dull and monotonous and others seeming out of place, but this was skilfully avoided.

Katey Warran’s long, repetitive opening speech became funny through her exaggeratedly snooty voice and slight sneer, a humorous caricature of the English middle class.

The long dialogue between Mr. and Mrs. Martin posed the same risks, and yet it became the highlight of the whole piece. The confidence of the direction that hilarity could be created through a monotonous, repetitive sequence – with no movement whatsoever – was striking.

There were refreshing breaks in the still stage pictures through the maid, Mary. Kelly Jackson’s performance was energetic and her Yorkshire accent and active facial expressions were extremely well-received by the audience.

Henry Jones and Luke Holbrook’s deliveries of Mr. Smith and the Fire Chief’s ‘stories’ were equally energetic, especially Mr. Smith’s dramatic performance, hilariously emphasized by an obvious change of light to a blue pool. The variety of pace, tone and moods used by all the actors made this a highly enjoyable production.

It was disappointing to see quite a small audience, but this did not affect the atmosphere or lessen the audience involvement in any way. We are fortunate to have such an active and professional theatre company, and judging by the audience response and my own impressions, this was an excellent start to the semester for them. I implore students to see as many of suTCo’s future productions as possible.

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