A spokesperson for the theatre company told Playbill On-Line that the two classic short plays, which were previously announced for this season, will instead kick off the 2004-2005 season. The plays — adapted by Tina Howe — will most likely go into rehearsal this August for a September opening. Carl Forsman was slated to direct. The Atlantic Theater Company is currently presenting Howard Korder's Sea of Tranquility through March 28. It is possible that Korder's play — starring Dylan Baker and Patricia Kalember — may extend its run or another work may replace the slot left vacant by the Ionesco postponement.

The Bald Soprano, Ionesco's first play (1950) and arguably his best known, is one of the totems of absurdist drama. It features two couples spouting commonplace conversational phrases and observations, made nonsensical through endless repetition and heightened robotic delivery. The play was inspired by an English phrase book. The Lesson was written the following year, 1951.

Playwright Howe received a 1987 Best Play Tony nomination for Coastal Disturbances, which played Circle in the Square Theatre. She has also penned The Nest, Birth and After Birth, Museum, The Art of Dining, Painting Churches, Approaching Zanzibar, One Shoe Off, Pride’s Crossing and Rembrandt’s Gift.

The Atlantic Theater Company is located in Manhattan at 336 West 20th Street; for more information, go to www.atlantictheater.org.