It’s all Ionesco, all the time! On June 29 & 30, one of Philly’s most adventurous companies will go to absurd lengths to perform Eugene Ionesco’s absurdist classic, The Bald Soprano. A sensation when first produced in 1998, A 24-Hour THE BALD SOPRANO is being revived by Brat Productions as part of their 10th-anniversary celebration.

Original director (and Brat founder) Madi Distefano returns to helm the performance marathon that American Theatre Magazine called “the best-ever theatrical critique of Suburban banality.”

SCENE: A middle-class English interior, with English armchairs. An English evening. Mr. Smith, an Englishman, is reading an English newspaper. Beside him is Mrs. Smith, an Englishwoman. A long moment of English silence. The English clock strikes 17 English strokes.

Thus begins a 60-minute masterpiece of metaphysical nonsense.

The play is written as a continuous loop, with an ending that begins the action all over again and substitutes the Martin family for the Smith family and vice versa. Brat takes Ionesco’s idea to its absurdly logical conclusion: the actors will switch roles for each new performance as the play continues its madcap loop.

On Friday, June 29 at 8:00 p.m., six intrepid actors—Keith Conallen, Jess Conda, Charlotte Ford, Adam Gertler, Nathan Holt and Sarah Sanford—will enter Ionesco’s madcap world of mixed signals, mistaken identity and miscommunication…and won’t be allowed to exit until the clock strikes 8:00 p.m. the next night! Audiences are invited to come and go, night and day—or to stay for all 24 performances. One ticket price covers the entire event. With comfy seats, free coffee and non-stop non-sequiturs, A 24-Hour THE BALD SOPRANO is a theatrical event like no other!

Venue: The Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad Street Box Office: (215) 546-7824 www.bratproductions.org