Carl Forsman, known for his work with the Keen Company, directs the one-acts, The Bald Soprano and The Lesson, considered masterworks from the absurdist playwright. Tina Howe is known for her Coastal Disturbances, Painting Churches and Pride's Crossing.

Billed as "a comic masterpiece," The Bald Soprano "celebrates the verbal mayhem that erupts when proper English people lose their ability to communicate." The Atlantic Theater staging will feature John Ellison Conlee, Michael Countryman, Seana Kofoed, Maggie Lacey, Jan Maxwell and Robert Stanton.

In The Lesson, "a professor tries to teach his student the basics of arithmetic and philology, but things go terribly wrong as his pronouncements escalate into inspired gibberish."

It will feature Maggie Kiley, Christa Scott-Reed and Steven Skybell.

Designers are Loy Arcenas (scenic), Theresa Squire (costume), Josh Bradford (lighting) and Obediah Eaves (sound).

Ionesco (1909-1994) wrote over 20 plays including The Chairs (1952) which received an acclaimed revival on Broadway in 1998, Rhinoceros (1959), The Killer (1958), Exit the King (1962), A Stroll in the Air (1963) and Hunger and Thirst (1964).

  Opening at the Atlantic's Off-Broadway home at 336 W. 20th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, is scheduled for Sept. 19.

Tickets are $50. Call Tele-Charge at (212) 239-6200 or visit www.atlantictheater.org.