Rhinoceros
A local theatre group recently put on a performance of the play Rhinoceros, which looked highly amusing when I read about it a few months ago so I decided to go and see it. Then I forgot about it because of the pressure of coursework, until I discovered two weeks ago that Xanna was in it. By this time I almost didn’t have the money, so while I emerged broke from the performance, I didn’t mind.
The play is about a town where, as the story progresses, more and more people develop ‘rhinoceritis’ and turn into rhinoceroses. The first time I said this to someone, they thought this was some kind of ridiculous kids’ play. Far from it. One reading of the play (the most obvious I’d think) is that rhinoceritis symbolises conformity – as more and more people become rhinos, the greater the urge is for others to follow and conform. The main character, Beringer, resists until the end, and in the production I saw it’s left ambiguous whether he turns into a rhino himself or not. It’s a very clever metaphor though.
One of the things I loved about this production was that the actors playing particular roles swapped throughout the play. For example, the four people it turned out I knew in the production (another SAYGO friend Jo as well as two others I recognised) played Beringer at some point, as well as quite a few other characters. The costumes they all wore made this work perfectly, and there was only one point when I was confused as to who was who (and figured it out as soon as this particular Beringer spoke). The rhino costumes were also great, and you had an opportunity to enter a draw to win a set of rhino horns, feet and tail. (I’d have so entered if I’d had a pen…)
Another thing I loved about this production was the way that, even before people turned into rhinoceroses there was a clear sense of them being part of a crowd, with no individuality. The whole cast would get together on stage as a rhinoceros passed by (portrayed by grunting and snorting through the speakers) and point – as a group – at it running past. They’d then immediately (as the lights changed) come together and become a single rhinoceros themselves, drawing parallels between the group and the conformity of the rhinoceros.
Recently I’ve been noticing more and more things in films and TV programmes that could be used as visual aids in talks. It’s a pity they didn’t film it – I’d have bought a copy and used it in the future :)
Matthew @ 10:21, March 26, 2005 to Reviews | Comments (0)
Post a comment:
Most XHTML auto-generated via Markdown. Email addresses are required but will never be displayed. If you have a website (or want to link to someone else's) please enter it in the URL field. Otherwise, leave this blank.
If you have a TypeKey identity, you can sign in to use it here.