Ionesco’s Cabaret brings absurdist theatre to life

Dive into Eugène Ionesco’s absurdist universe with a double-bill showcase and art party at Vancouver’s Progress Lab.

Ionesco’s Cabaret will come to life from July 23 to 25. The showcase is presented by Rumble Theatre, and produced by Theatre Conspiracy with Pi Theatre.

Ionesco was a Romanian-French playwright who aided the Theatre of the Absurd movement, writing several plays, including Frenzy for Two and The Leader — which are a part of the showcase.

Jivesh Parasram, Rumble Theatre’s artistic director, says Ionesco is a “godfather of contemporary comedic traditions.”

David Mesiha, co-artistic director of Theatre Conspiracy, directed The Leader, a dark satire that explores fascism.

“For me, The Leader is the connective tissue of all of Ionesco’s work,” Mesiha says. “I feel, in most of his plays, he investigates … the processes of human nature that allow for fascist movements to take hold and almost become an infection.”

Frenzy for Two is directed by Richard Wolfe, Pi Theatre’s artistic and producing director. The dramedy is about a couple trapped in a room and feeling stuck in their relationship, while there’s a war outside their window.

Wolfe says Ionesco is a playwright whose work resonates with contemporary anxieties.

“Reading through one book, I underlined quotes on almost every page, and they’re so relevant to today, it’s almost unnerving that they were written 60 years ago,” Wolfe says.

Tim Carlson’s photo installation “Lost Hands” that will also be featured in the showcase. Carlson is a performing arts producer, writer, and musician, and co-founded Theatre Conspiracy with Wolfe.

“Lost Hands” is an audio and visual novel that will focus on themes in The Leader and Frenzy for Two, including leadership, the cult of celebrity worship, paranoia, and fear.

The installation began when he was photographing lost gloves on construction sites in Vancouver in the 1990s, and he revived the idea during the COVID-19 pandemic when discarded medical gloves caught his attention.

“These photos are kind of absurd — to have a collection of lost gloves — the narration is tongue-in-cheek. It’s a pandemic situation where people are losing their hands, and of course that creates a lot of problems for society,” Carlson says.

The showcase features the same designers and cast for both plays, and Mesiha says it feels like a singular event.

“The approach was about investigating one author from repertoire in a low-pressure environment for a Vancouver audience, in a way that we can enjoy and celebrate it, and have fun with theatre together,” Mesiha says.

Parasram says that Rumble Theatre is excited to work with Theatre Conspiracy on this showcase because the companies produce “high impact, very realized work.”

“[Rumble Theatre] still wants to stimulate … conversation with people, so that’s from our perspective as a presenter. That’s why we were super excited with these two companies working together,” Parasram says.

Wolfe hopes that audiences that come to see Ionesco’s Cabaret recognize themselves and the contemporary life in this absurdity.

“I hope they find some sense of sharing or commonality between them as individuals in the audience … because … everybody shares the moment in real time,” Wolfe says.

For tickets, visit www.rumble.org/shows/ionescos-cabaret/.