"Rhinoceros" Stampedes at SMC's Main Stage
"Rhinoceros," a production directed by Santa Monica College (SMC) Theatre’s Terrin Adair-Lynch, made its debut Friday, Nov. 22 at the school's Main Stage. The play, written by Eugene Ionesco in 1959, focuses on the transformation of a normal town into something unrecognizable to itself.
Ionesco wrote plays rooted in a complete rejection of conformity. Interpretively, "Rhinoceros" mirrors Ionesco’s time in college, during 1920's Bucharest, Romania, in which many of the intelligentsia were embracing the fascist and antisemitic Iron Guard.
The Main stage presented Little Castille in colorful façades of shops and cafes. It was an ordinary day, about to be interrupted by something absurdly sinister.
“I like the use of the doors and the lighting... ” said Jack Galanty, an SMC technical theatre student. “It really brought the show to life. The quirky nature of the set gave the show its own personal touch.”
SMC Director Adair-Lynch, who teaches theatre, comedy, and voice, is recognized for the flair in her productions.
“I was pretty sure this was one of her [Adair-Lynch] plays right away... big dialogue, bold declarations, there’s a lot of thought," said Skylar Cox, an audience member who took her stage makeup class.
The play felt like a farcical dream one remembers vividly only for a moment. The thundering of a stampeding rhinoceros interrupts quiet Little Castille at lunchtime.
“Well, of all things!” the townspeople cried in disbelief. That ensemble dialogue repeated throughout the performance reinforcing a world of inane absurdity.
Jean and Berenger argued whether the rhinoceros they saw had one horn or two, whether it was African or Asiatic, and if that mattered at all.
"It's no reason for you and I to quarrel," Berenger lamented.
The next day at the office, some are skeptical if the rhinoceros actually came to town at all. The skeptic, Botard, said “It’s all a hoax! An example of collective psychosis.”
“But it’s down here in the dead cats column!” Dudard, a colleague, retorted.
The townspeople started to give sly rationale to the Rhinos' presence. ”They've got a natural innocence... a frankness," said Jean.
Rhinoceroses danced ominously in a shadowy haze teasing Little Castille with their song.
“I’m frightened of becoming someone else,” Berenger remarked on his feelings of alienation. His unique lamentations were ardent with anxiety. "I feel involved. I can't just be indifferent."
To its audience, "Rhinoceros" posed unanswered questions about the nature of the human condition, exploring individual will in a social world. Each observer reckoned with their own conclusion.
Catch performances of "Rhinoceros" at the SMC Main Stage this weekend on Dec. 6 - 8.