Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros, written in 1959 by Romanian / Frenchman Eugene Ionesco, illustrates how radical groups such as the Nazis, fascists or communists can come into being and sweep the people up into their beliefs. As a model, he has used the rhinoceros that at first seems strange and unattractive but lures most into the group. This is Theatre of the Absurd and heartBeast has staged it in a theatre that matched the play. In the Reservoir Theatre, at the bottom of four flights of stairs, the audience sat on three sides of a small square stage between four pillars. Most entrances on stage were from the fourth side but the actors exited from all sides moving through the audience, to roar as rhinoceros near the town folk – the audience. This was very effective.

The play begins when Jean, an efficient refined young man, meets his semi alcoholic and apathetic friend, Berenger, for a drink in a small town square. Then the rhinos start to appear.

The performance of Brian Bolton as Berenger  was  the crux to the success of the play and he maintained his performance throughout. Patrick Farrelly, as Jean, was a strong forceful foil to Bolton’s Berenger, setting such a good tone for the whole play. Stephanie Allsopp was a good Daisy, the only female in the cast. If there was any fault with any of the cast, it was that so many were of similar physical appearance.

Steve Pearson, the director, worked wonders with this difficult to stage play in the limited space at his disposal. That limited space, in some ways, contributed to the over-all effectiveness of the production and its effect on the confined, close audience.

This was a challenging play for both the company and the audience and overall, it was well done. It made me think.

Bill Davies