Chris Cannon posted on February 15, 2011 09:58
ROME, Ga. -- The Berry College Theatre Company presents two absurdist plays by French playwright Eugene Ionesco opening Thursday (Feb. 17).
The performances will be Feb. 17-20 and 24-27 in the E. H. Young Theatre in Blackstone Hall on the Berry Campus. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday performances will begin at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees will have a 2 p.m. curtain time. Opening night tickets are $5; all other performances are $7. To make reservations call the theatre box office at 706-236-2263.
The term "Theatre of the Absurd" was coined by critic Martin Esslin to classify plays that began to appear in the 1950s and was a product of the existentialist philosophy associated with Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sartre. Two of the most famous absurdist plays were The Lesson and The Bald Soprano. Berry seniors Matt Dixon and Mark Bailey are directing these two distinctive avant-garde works. Senior Katie Curry is the costume designer and the scenic and lighting designs are by Christian Boy. The plays are an ironic mix of comedy and despair and are characterized at times by apparently meaningless banter that nonetheless suggests both the preposterous and the disturbing.
Dixon, director of The Lesson, says, "It's going to stretch the audience's perception of what theatre is all about...The Lesson will keep you on the edge of your seat while working your brain a little in the process."