Three Plays by Eugene Ionesco

"The Leader"

 

Synopsis: A group of people sit and wait in awe as they watch their leader. They are amazed and exhilarated to just see him do the most mundane activities, like eat breakfast and read his newspaper. The celebration is led by the announcer who diligently awaits and calls out the leader's every action. While the crowd is engulfed in excitement, a young boy and girl meet and fall in love. They frolic about the stage amid the rest of the commotion. One of the admirers, a girl, notes with horror that the leader has no head. The announcer points out that he has no need for a head since he possesses no genius.

 

Cast

Announcer	John Teelin
Admirer	Bob Tiller
Girl Admirer	Frances Barrineau
Lover	Barry Donaldson
Girlfriend	Carol Godwin
Leader	Jim Garrett

"Maid to Marry"

 

Cast

Lady	Carol Godwin
Gentleman	Jim Garrett
Gentlemaid	Bob Tiller

"Improvisation" or "The Shepherd's Chameleon"

 

Synopsis: "Improvisation" is the playwright's ultimate revenge, a comedy of the absurd in which the absurd creatures are the pedants and dogmatists who try to foist their gobbledygook theories on the poor, suffering dramatist. All going under the name of Bartholemus, three of these bickering, egotistical ignoramuses invade the cluttered study of the innocent playwright (Ionesco himself) and try to force on him their rigid rules of "costumology, historicization, decorology, audiencology" and whatever other fads and follies they can dream up. When the playwright meekly suggests that he has an idea, he is told that because he is not a scholar, he is not allowed an idea. When he tries to explain his creative mechanism, he is rebuked for the "creative" but allowed the "mechanism." Driven to such distraction that he becomes little more than a trained monkey who is crammed into a costume and dances to his critics' tune, the author is rescued at last by a member of his audience, a down-to-earth cleaning lady, who shoos off the dunciad and even saves the writer from taking himself too seriously.

 

Cast

Ionesco	Bob Tiller
Bartholemus I	Jim Garrett
Bartholemus II	John Teelin
Bartholemus III	Barry Donaldson
Marie	Frances Barrineau

 

Creative Team

Director	Doug Woodruff
Assistant Director	Gary Cox
Set Design & Construction	Bob Tiller
Set Design & Construction	Frances Barrineau
Set Design & Construction	Gary Cox
Lighting Design	Pete Raby
Lighting Design	Frank Calhoun
Lighting Design	Sam McCorvey
Sound	John Teelin
Sound	Tim Steele
House Manager	Whit Potter