Are you really reading words on this page? Is there a page? Is this really an article about No Refund Theatre's performance of absurd theater this weekend?

At 8 tonight and tomorrow, 111 Forum will resound with laughter as NRT actors address these types of questions in Eugéne Ionesco's play The Bald Soprano.

Often seen as a comedy, Ionesco intended the play to be an "anti-play." There is no plot, no regularity from the characters and simply no logic. Even the title of the play was random. During a rehearsal an actor made a Freudian slip and Ionesco decided on the spot to use it as the title.

"It's about silly nondescript English people saying nonsense to each other and what it's like to have English as a second language," said the director, Nate Kushner (sophomore-English).

The Bald Soprano debuted in Paris and has received international acclaim ever since it opened in 1950. Kushner became interested in bringing this French piece of art to Penn State after witnessing the play firsthand during a visit to Paris.

"We fixed some things because of the translation from French, but hopefully people will laugh all the way through it," Kushner said.

The set of The Bald Soprano is somewhat sparse, with only four chairs and a table. But props, and plot for that matter, are not the focus of the play.

"The Bald Soprano is definitely an absurd play. It's at the kind of level of using simple language that speaks about profound things," said Ben Winjum (senior-physics), an actor in the play.

The night doesn't end with The Bald Soprano. On the contrary, NRT is just getting warmed up. The second half of the evening is devoted to two small one acts and a group of skits, The Evil Theatre Project, written by Kushner himself.

"It's something I wanted to try and now I love it," Kushner said.

According to Jeremy Owens (sophomore-English), an actor in both segments, one of the monologues is set over top of live music performed by a jazz trio.

Another piece of Kushner's that will be performed is called "Small Parts for Small Actors," which is a collection of 20 short skits with less than five lines and less than three actors.

"They're really weird but fun at the same time. They come off so fast that you don't know whether to scratch your head or giggle. I had trouble not laughing on stage," Owens said.

According to Kushner, the second half of the night's performances consist of cruel, dark and disturbing parts of humor, with the exception of his adaptation of "World Full of Great Cities," a short story by Joseph Heller. Heller was made famous for his novel Catch-22, but "World Full of Great Cities" has been out of print for awhile said Kushner.

"It sounds silly, but there's stuff behind it and hopefully it'll make you think," Kushner said.