A rhinoceros appears in a small French village. This is not possible and yet another shows up and crushes a cat. This must be stopped, villagers cry. But more rhinos appear. Some tear out a staircase in a building, trapping the people upstairs. The fire department is called to rescue them.
Still more rhinoceroses show up. Where are they coming from? Turns out, humans are accidentally or willingly turning into horned, burly beasts and as time passes, it seems more people are transforming. What first was strange and unacceptable becomes more palatable bit by bit. Is there anyone left who is able to resist the pressure to conform to the new normal?
Eugène Ionesco’s avant garde play Rhinoceros born in reaction to people he knew, friends and colleagues, who began lining up with Nazis during the years before and during World War II is returning in a Catastrophic Theatre production.
Catastrophic last did Rhinoceros in 2017 to critical acclaim. Last year, Catastrophic’s Co-Artistic Directors and founders Tamarie Cooper and Jason Nodler agreed it was time to do it again. Apparently other theaters agreed. Although Rhinoceros is rarely produced, Cooper says, both Yale Repertory Theatre and American Repertory Theater have recently done it “with star-studded casts.”
“It does sort of speak to that feeling there’s more polarization than ever,” says Cooper who is directing. “A lot of that is political. So much change and chaos and the way you sort of accept it and just sort of move forward. Things that in the past we would have considered inconceivable. We just sort of say ‘Oh well, okay.’
“And it isn’t even just politics. You can take this argument beyond dogma and you can take it into technology and the changes that are happening in our world. There are a lot of entry points. I don’t think this is just a liberal treatise.”
Cooper said “Ionesco made it clear that although this play was inspired by his experience and horror of World War II, watching many of his artists and intellectual friends embrace fascism, that in some ways it’s not a political play. If anything, it’s attacking political ideology of both sides.”
For example: Ionesco has a whole section with a character named Botard who represents the leftist, conspiracy, union character, she says. “So it isn’t just fascism. It’s any dogma that becomes more of a collective hysteria.”.
The two leads in the two-act are played by George Parker who is Berenger and Kyle Sturdivant who is Jean. As the play begins, Jean is giving Berenger a hard time over his slovenly appearance and lack of responsibility. The town drunk, Berenger accepts all the faults that Jean finds in him.
“We don’t actually have anyone costumed as a rhinoceros. We leave that transformation to the minds of the audience. It’s far scarier when left to someone’s imagination.
“I think it’s a script that really comes to life off the page and demands a robust physicality,” Cooper says. “I have a wonderful collection of actors and people. My two leads have done this play before. They’re both such great physical actors, so funny and great comic timing. The text demands physicality; the lines being thrown back and forth almost like a ball at a tennis match that really require that more broad slapstick approach.”
“Kyle has played many an animal for Catastrophic Theatre. He’s been a chimpanzee. He most recently was a killer whale. He was also dinosaur cop. It’s his splendid physicality. There are things he does with his body where he loses that upright, collected posture and becomes very animalistic.”
Other cast members include Noel Bowers, Karina Pal Montaño-Bowers, Sara Jo Dunstan, Jovan Jackson, Mara McGhee, Jenna Morris Miller, Rebecca Randall and Abraham Zapata.
“I think Ioneso picked rhinoceroses because there’s an element of a herd mentality and something that truly he saw as a monster almost,” Cooper says.
“With all this discussion of themes and philosophy within the play, it is a very funny play and I am always one for making people feel and think things through, through comedy. It’s always been a good fit for me as a director.”
Performances are scheduled for September 18 through October 10 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston (MATCH), 3400 Main. Recommended for audiences 10 and up. For more information, call 713-521-4533 or visit matchouston.org. Pay what you can.
