Urbana University Review: 'Rhinoceros'

Rhinoceritis Strikes Urbana University 

November 2015

This past weekend, the Urbana University theater students performed Eugène Ionesco’s absurdist play Rhinoceros while delivering a fun and thought provoking performance about how an idea can become a contagious disease spreading from one person to another. Overall, the two-hour performance was enjoyable despite the long stretches of difficult back-and-forth dialog that often seemed to drag on too long.
  

Arriving early to the Blackbox Theatre, nestled behind Oak Hall on U.U. campus, I watched the free seats quickly fill up until the show started on time at eight pm.  The theatre crew did an excellent job on the set, as it immediately gave one the feel of a street in small town in modern France, but unfortunately, the play eventually moves from the vibrant and bustling streets to the uninteresting apartments of two characters that caused me to focus more on my uncomfortable chair than the stage.
  

Attempting to deliver lines that are both comical and, at the same time, are dealing with disturbing aspects of the human conditions is difficult for even seasoned thespians, and the strain for timely lines showed throughout the heaviest dialog during the first scene. However, despite the occasional awkward pause between lines, Brad Anderson, playing the lead role of the Everyman character Berenger, led the cast in giving an energetic and passionate go at the difficult nature of the absurdist play. During the performance, the director and Assistant Professor for the University, Margaret Piatt, showed off her creativity when the character Jean, proficiently played by Heather Berry, slowly transformed into a Rhinoceros before our very eyes.
  

Speaking of Rhinoceroses, the Rhinos were the shining jewel of the play, all due to their exceptional costuming. While watching the Rhino’s trample, dance, and sing their song, you couldn’t help but notice the attention to detail that Pam Clouse gave to the Rhinoceros’s masks, and whenever a crash, a herd of Rhinoceroses (I learned that from the play), appeared, the audience couldn’t help but laugh and cheer for them.
  

After the play, Margaret Piatt invited the audience for a talk back with the cast and crew answering any of their questions about the various dyadic themes in the play, including individualism versus group values. When I asked what idea the Rhinoceroses represented, Brad Anderson simply replied, “Fascism,” as would be true for the time Ionesco wrote the play. He also pointed out “the play is always set in modern time, so it can be an allegory for any modern idea, taking root in someone’s mind.”
  

Overall, the play was enjoyable, and for a theater class performance, there was an abundance of passion shown in the acting, set design, and costuming that make up for the difficult dialog. I recommend seeing a show at the Blackbox Theatre if you can. I know that I will be seeing future performances—with an extra seat cushion.