With some exceptions, absurdism doesn’t age particularly well. The impact of what was shocking and avant-garde decades ago is reduced by the endless mediocre imitations that have followed throughout the years. Such is the case with The Bald Soprano, Eugene Ionesco’s one-act “anti-play” (the playwright’s description) about language and middle-class life that is now being revived by the Pearl Theatre. While the production displays a loving attention to the work’s detailed and purposeful deconstruction of its targets, the work comes across today as an extended sketch whose satirical points are repeated ad infinitum. 

Set during “an English evening” in “an English interior,” it depicts the interactions among two suburban couples--named in pointedly bland fashion the Smiths and the Martins—as well as the Smith’s maid, Mary (Robin Leslie Brown), and a fire chief (Dan Daily) who unexpectedly drops by “on official business.”

It begins with the Smiths sitting in their cozy parlor, with Mrs. Smith (Rachel Botchan) attempting to make small with her distracted husband (Bradford Cover) who at first responds only with clicking noises of his tongue. Eventually they’re joined by the friends the Martins (Brad Heberlee, Jolly Abraham), who don’t seem to quite recognize each other despite the fact that they’re married.

The playwright claimed that he was inspired to create the piece while attempting to learn English, and the dialogue mirrors the sort of banal phrases that one encounters in language manuals. As the play proceeds, the language further dissolves into a series of non-sequiturs that are even more ridiculous than the preceding exchanges.

For the play to work today, it would have to be presented with the sort of atmosphere and imagination that went into the Broadway revivals of such (admittedly far superior) Ionesco plays as The Chairs and Exit the King. Although ably acted by the ensemble and featuring a nifty set by Harry Feiner that includes a rear wall that appears to be upside down, director Hal Brooks’ production never quite captures the work’s anarchic spirit. Although it’s good to see The Bald Soprano receive a professional production—in more than thirty years of theatergoing, I’ve never before come across it except on the page—it will best be appreciated by academics and completists.

New York City Center Stage II, 131 W. 55th St. 212-581-1212. www.nycitycenter.org.