What does it mean to retain our humanity when surrounded by people who have lost their own? How does one protect one’s individuality when everyone else has joined the herd? Can art survive the sudden absence the financial support?
These are big questions that might require a lot of ink to properly address. Or, alternatively, a stage play featuring one of the most outrageous ideas in theatre history.
The play, Eugene Ionesco’s iconic “Rhinoceros,” is the Limelight Theatre’s most recent production and one that tackles these ideas — and more.
It’s the story of a man who must overcome his confusion and weakness to defy a strange and terrifying trend: the transformation of every person he knows into a rhinoceros.
This landmark work in what has been termed The Theatre of the Absurd was written in 1959 to address the mystery of the German population cooperating en masse with the National Socialist monstrosity that precipitated the deaths of millions of people. The main character, Berenger, struggles as his best friend, a respected colleague, the town’s leading logician and the woman he loves all succumb to the lure of the herd, each for a different, personal reason.
But the Limelight Theatre has added an extra layer of meaning to this particular production: the impact of recent cuts made to arts funding in Florida. Thus, director Mary Claire Branton, working closely with set designer Rob O’Leary, sets the show inside a theater — making it almost a show within a show. As the rhinos rise in power, they tear parts of the set down. And Berenger, in his last act before the lights fade, declares his defiance while taking the first step toward restoring the set.
“Rhinoceros” was Limelight’s first production of Absurdist Theatre, one that offered audiences something new and thought-provoking. The first act is largely comic, the characters engaged in absurd discussions. The second act, which opens with many actors in rhino masks, is dark and somewhat alarming. Characters that we laughed with in the first act are now unrecognizable; some wear scary rhino masks but others unnerve us with their words and actions as they degenerate into beasts.
The strong cast brings a passion to this performance that breathes life into Ionesco’s dialogue. In casting the show, Branton enlisted top-notch performers who made the audience feel it had a very real stake in the narrative.
Leading the cast was Alberto Carlos Peart, who delivered a powerful performance as Berenger, and Nicole Maahs as Daisy, who resists the herd nearly to the end only to be finally drawn into it. Collin James was exceptional as Jean, a jovial foil who turns angry and aggressive. Trevor Kluckman expertly demonstrated his character’s incremental transformation, marked by ever-increasing shifts in his accent and alarming “rhinoceros” behavior.
Filling out the cast were Michael Gale, Nicholas Frost, Dolores Gende, Hannah Schaeffer, Amelia Gale, Megan Rodriguez, Anthony Romero, Emily Panek and Charles Ross. Each of these talented performers contributed to the high quality of the show.
Up next at the Limelight Theatre is the popular musical “Hairspray,” which takes the stage July 9 to Aug. 10.
To learn more about Limelight Theatre, go to limelight-theatre.org. Limelight is located at 11 Old Mission Ave., St. Augustine. The phone number is 904-825-1164.
