Look! It's 'Rhinoceros' — A stampede of the absurd

Theatre~Intime has seen its share of palpitating dance moves, show-stopping smooches and Quixotic fantasies, but this Thursday's opening night ushered in something a little bit different: a rhinoceros or two. The cast of Eugene Ionesco's "Rhinoceros" — wildlife and actors alike — was warmly received.

Ionesco, often heralded as the father of absurdist theater, strove to convey man's struggle to survive in a society that forms barriers between humans. A staunch anti-communist, Ionesco championed causes such as human rights and spoke out against political tyranny through the farcical blows of his works, which include "The Bald Soprano," "The Lesson," "The Gap," and, of course, "Rhinoceros."

"Rhinoceros" examines the element of the ridiculous found in an array of characters reacting to one another as they, one by one, turn into rhinoceroses. Touching on the chaos and barbarity of communism and its infamous masses, Ionesco artfully mingles the utterly absurd with the medium of the theater.

Though there wasn't a pachyderm in sight, the characters interacted with these intangible beasts, grabbing hold of the audience's attention in the process. Serving as brilliant middlemen, the characters made the surreal mechanism of the play accessible to the evening's theatrical tourists.

This rendition of "Rhinoceros," directed by junior Natasha Badillo, embarks on its course with an energetic bout of music, allowing the audience to familiarize itself with some of the characters and take notice of the café scenery's forced perspective.

As the first act's conversations begin, the fragmented personalities and dialogues mesh together for a curious overall effect. The Logician (Scott Eckert '03) and the Old Gentleman (Owen Tanzer '05) philosophize about felines, while Jean (Charles Hewson '04) advises Berenger (Austin Saypol '04) to stop drinking.

The various splintered and overlapping discourses of the first act fully come together at the first sightings of a rhinoceros. The condensation of scattered snatches of dialogue toward one unifying idea is truly entertaining. Captivatingly angled sets, costumes reflecting each character's idiosyncrasies and puzzle-piece conversation create a feast for the eye and ear.

The second act, set in the law office where Jean and Berenger work, opens with a discussion of the rhinoceros sighting. Mr. Papillon (Philip Isles '03) and Botard (Eric Bland '02) express their disbelief of such an absurdity, while Daisy (Rachel Koblic '04) purports that she believes in flying saucers as well as rhinoceroses.

Bland's comedic energy helps to fully engage the different sides of the disagreement while inducing peals of laughter. Koblic's conviction and Bland's humor stabilize the scene, and allow its more serious side to develop in an amusing setting.

Just as the elaborate French café scenery breaks down to an office and then to a bedroom outlined by doors and windows but no walls, the societal structure itself that is threatened in the first act fully breaks down in the second and third act. The action of the second and third acts spirals further and further from the intersecting vignettes of the first act.

As Jean turns into a rhinoceros, Hewson astonishes the audience with his transformation from a reserved office worker to a wild animal, truly capturing the savagery of the rhinoceros motif. Hewson and Saypol play well off of each other, with Hewson's brutal metamorphosis complementing Saypol's honest, human performance.

Though the play spans two and a half hours and has two intermissions, the motion of the actors keeps you from glancing at your watch.

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While the final act strays far from the comedic intensity of the second and the lighthearted jumble of characterization of the first, the concluding moments of "Rhinoceros" strike at core of Ionesco's philosophy. One can't help but agree with the playwright himself: "It's not a certain society that seems ridiculous to me. It's mankind."