Review: Strawberry Theatre Workshop's RHINOCEROS: Funny, but Too On The Nose

It makes sense that Strawberry Theatre Workshop would put on a production of Eugène Ionesco's "Rhinoceros" right now. Ionesco's allegorical post-WWII production was far from ambiguous when it came to political stance. Directed by Jess K. Smith, this modern adaptation both soared and, at times stumbled from its approach to cultural relevancy.

For an absurdist production, "Rhinoceros" has a very cohesive, linear narrative. Bright-eyed and bushy tailed Bérenger converses with her careerist friend Jean in a café, when suddenly a rhinoceros barrels through their sleepy, provincial town. This moment sends the community into a tailspin as they bicker over minute details rather than make sense of what happened. We watch Bérenger's community transform into a herd of rhinoceroses one by one, Bérenger the only among them fervently opposed to transforming.

Ionesco was very transparent about his allegorical intensions. Written in 1959, the play is a response and criticism to the sudden upsurge of communism, facism, and Nazism preceding WWII. In Smith's directorial interpretation, rather than let the audience infer how the production applies to today's political state, there were too many moments where the production would tell the audience that the show was an allegory.

The dialogue suggests that these are actual rhinos barreling through the town. The townspeople point to a disembodiEd Galloping that is unmistakably non-human. As we watch one of the characters slowly transform into a rhinoceros, they get increasingly feral, wild-eyed, and guttural in speech. But when the big reveal happens and we finally see the rhinoceroses, they look like humans with human hands and human feet, walking upright, donning black trench coats and grey rhino heads. Plus, they do not barrel about savagely, but slink slowly in a way that kind of feels foreboding. Of course Strawberry Theater could not get actual rhinoceroses for the production. And my issue with Smith's directorial decision has nothing to do with the budget. They were halfway between allegorical representations of rhinos and literal representations of facists, rather than committing to the allegory.These rhino-human hybrids defy the allegorical nature of the production, which has done nothing but discuss rhinos as they are in nature. Plus we can see the actors' faces very clearly, which created a feeling of the rhino heads being apart of a uniform, rather than the actors being actual rhinos. More or less, if a production talks about real rhinos, and the rhinos are supposed to be a metaphor, give the metaphor some breathing room to be a symbol, rather than, visually, say "Get it? Look, the rhinos are actually Nazis!" While visiting bedridden Jean, Bérenger picks up a Time Magazine with Donald Trump on the cover. They went as far as to project film reels of Hitler and North Korea's string of dictators between scenes, in case, somehow, we had not gotten the gist yet. It felt like the production did not let the message speak for itself.

That said, casting Carol Louise Thompson as Bérenger--a traditionally male character-was brilliant. That feeling of isolation became especially effective since the modern day parallel is accused of misogyny. And as the high-watt slacker turned obsessive, she felt like a skittish rabbit amongst a herd of rhinos, and it really worked. And the innovative use of rolling platforms to have the environment literally break into pieces made the climactic moment of solitude truly devastating.

All in all, the casting of this production was wonderful. As the logician, Brandon Felker had the cadence and comedic timing of British comedy a la Monty Python, and it really worked (not to mention the actor's resemblance to a young John Cleese). As the Ray Ban donning, smarmy Jean, Shawn Belyea was hysterical. Truly, the whole cast was on point, many actors portraying more than one townsperson. As the beautiful love interest of Bérenger, I was hoping that Daisy (played by Amy Mayers) was a bit more affectionate in Act II, but that's a minor issue.

As a collective production, it balanced humor and drama quite well. The playfulness of the absurdity was not lost, but neither was the subject matter's severity. I just wished that this modern interpretation had felt less surreal and more allegorical. Carol Louise Thompson's tremendous acting heightens the production's credibility, and it was an enjoyable production as a whole. I give Strawberry Theatre Workshop's "Rhinoceros" a feeling-slightly-dumbed-down-to 3/5 stars. I think this production is relevant, but I think the relevancy should speak for itself.

"Rhinoceros" performs at 12th Avenue Arts through October 8, 2016. For tickets and information, visit them online at www.strawshop.org.

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