Photo credit: Grace Janiszewski
What would happen if everyone in your town turned into rhinoceroses?
This is the exact question posed by Fairfield theatre students in their rendition of Eugene Ionesco’s 1959 play “Rhinoceros.”
Bérenger, the protagonist, is an ordinary man who is unsatisfied with, alienated and confused by society. The play follows Bérenger as he begins to transform into an outspoken individual. When all the townspeople follow the herd and conventionalities of those around them, Bérenger will rise up against life’s pressures. However, Bérenger is not the only one facing these challenges.
Director Jackob Hofmann wants his idea of “herd mentality” to resonate within a contemporary context. Hofmann said he hopes to keep true to the historical context in addition to his own artistic approach.
In Ionesco’s time, he was able to identify with the absurdity before and during World War II in Europe. Hofmann relates the play’s underlying concepts of fascism and nazism, which was prominent during Ionesco’s time, to a modern world driven by social media.
As Hofmann describes a busy Manhattan morning, he becomes fascinated with the herd mentality of today’s generation: “Like tech-driven zombies, wide-eyed pedestrians roam the streets, manically finger-pecking nonsensical emotions into their smartphones and gadgets. Heads down, they are spellbound.”
But this is just the beginning of Hofmann’s worries. “They think they are communicating in a meaningful way,” he says. However, they “just look like a herd of wild animals.”
Hofmann looks to his cast for inspiration. “I am interested to see how, as a team, we can interpret the characters and make them our own,” he says. For example, many of the male roles are played by female actors. “For me,” Hofmann describes, “it gives it all an edge—a new way of looking at things.”
Senior Grace Janiszewski, a theatre major, says, “Jackob is a great director and the cast meshed together well. Each character is independent, but makes up a whole.”
Janiszewski plays a waitress within the ensemble and she realizes how important the ensemble is in representing the herd of animals.
“The struggle is to always enhance the story,” Janiszewski says. “As an absurdist play, the story is stretched to the limits, creating sometimes ridiculous situations, but the reality behind it can bring the truth out.”
Janiszewski says she asks herself constantly, “If this was real what would I do? Join everyone or be the last person standing? I still don’t know the answer.”
But that is the point of the play: to ask questions. What is absurdity? Is there a God? What meaning is there to life? And will we live like animals or give in and follow the herd?
Hofmann urges all those in the audience to “come with a blank slate and experience the play in the moment.” He wants his directorial piece to be a conversation between the audience, actors and director, and he hopes members of the audience are challenged – just as he and the cast were.
“Good theatre,” Hofmann says, “is the conversation that happens later.” This is where students will “self-reflect, aspire and be inspired to ask these questions.”
“Rhinoceros” will premiere Wednesday, Oct. 30, through Sunday, Nov. 3, in the Wein Black Box Theatre at Fairfield University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. Performance times are 8 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, Oct. 30 to Nov. 2; and 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 2 and 3. Tickets are $12 for general admission, $6 for senior citizens and Fairfield staff and $5 for students.
Will you follow the herd?
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