Insomniac's Theater

Last night.... err, this morning I had the opportunity to see an amazing piece of theater. The ever-wonderful Brat Productions staged an incredible production of Eugène Ionesco's The Bald Soprano.

One of the best examples of theater of the absurd, this play is set in a suburb of London and involves two couples talking in non-sequitars about their tedious lives. Their evening is interrupted by the appearance of a saucy maid and a slightly crazed Fire Chief. Ionesco intended for the 55 minute show to be performed twice, with the two sets of couples switching roles at the end of the first performance. Brat took his concept to the extreme-- the cast of their Bald Soprano performed (and is, as I type, still performing) the show back-to-back for twenty-four hours. No breaks, no replacement cast, no relief-- just an endless loop of absurd theater at it's best. Read their blurb on it here. The performances started at 8pm yesterday and will conclude at 8pm today.

My bestie Melanie was the stage manager of this awesome theatrical event, so of course we had to go and support her. Plus we heard there was going to be free beer. We opted for the 2am-4am time slot, and had so much fun that we actually stayed until 5am this morning to see the show for a third time.

This play is absurd to begin with, but to liven things up for the actors and the audience in this marathon, director (and all-around awesome gal) Madi Distefano orchestrated some pranks to keep the actors on their toes. Instead of a doorbell sound cue, Melanie had a variety of obnoxious buzzers and whistles. Madi went around and whispered to the audience a phrase to shout at the actors during the 3am performance, which the actors were both startled and amused by. The Fire Chief is an unpredictable character in the play already, but Madi upped the insanity by instructing him to come onstage at different points in the 24 hour period with a stuffed dog, with a burlesque dancer, with bananas, and oh, yeah, dressed like this at 4am:

The other actors rolled with the punches, pounding his drum for emphasis and generally keeping (mostly) straight faces about the whole thing.

Hey, don't get mad at me for taking pictures. Everyone else was doing it. I have never been a part of a theatrical experience like this. The audience was rooting for the actors in an immediate, visceral way. We stayed to watch them do the show the same way for hours, delighting in small variations, marvelling at the sheer endurance and skill of the performers.

Oh, and did I mention we got to wear our pajamas to the theater?

Yes, this is us at 4am, eating donuts and drinking coffee AND beer. (l-r Deb, Melanie, AJ, Lauren). Melanie got to take a break from 4am-10am, lucky girl. The actors weren't so lucky.
So a huge thank you to Madi, Melanie and Brat for a truly magical theatrical experience.