Rhinoceros Transforms Gallery for Melbourne Fringe

The absurd world of Eugene Ionesco is given a fresh view by Melbourne’s 5pound Theatre Director Jason Cavanagh.

Cavanagh is taking Ionesco's classic Rhinoceros (in a adaptation by Martin Crimp) beyond the confines of a theatre to stage it throughout The Owl and the Pussycat, transforming the larger gallery space into a humble little village where the audience will sit at tables and chairs in the middle of the set, before being bustled into the bar area for the dramatic conclusion.

5pound Theatre’s Susannah Frith, Giuseppe Mauceri and Adrian Dean will be joined by various guest actors and acrobats performing among elaborate sets and unique costuming.

This production marks 5pound Theatre's debut into the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

“It has long been a dream of mine to stage Rhinoceros, which has been a favorite since high school.  I am particularly excited to be using the Martin Crimp translation since seeing it at the premiere in London a few years ago,” says Jason.

“We are having so much fun piecing Rhinoceros together, I’ve fallen off my chair laughing at times... Hopefully the audience finds it as funny as we do.

“It is such a joy to be staging this play with such a terrific and dedicated group of actors (and acrobats). It’s been a dream of mine for over a decade and to see it all come together makes me so happy.

“It’s been a huge task, essentially building a small village inside an art gallery, to see it come to life with actors and action happening all around you, it’s like stepping into another world... A bizarre world full of rhinoceros’s.

Written in 1959 Ionesco originally penned this play as a reaction to the brutal atrocities and mindless conformity he witnessed during the Nazi occupation of WWII France. The hardening of people’s souls and the absurd nature of their extreme beliefs, adopted so readily by the community around him, gave rise to this astonishing play, a corner stone of the Absurdist movement. The rhinoceros represents man's inherent brutal nature.

The play centers around a disorganised, disinterested protagonist called Berenger. When first a rhinoceros runs through the town square he seems only vaguely interested.  As more and more appear it slowly becomes apparent that it is in fact the people around him turning into rhinoceroses, and when his best friend changes before his eyes he starts to break down. Once the Rhinoceros’ outnumber the humans he is forced to wonder… who are the real monsters?

Swinging effortlessly between hilarity and tragedy, Rhinoceros continues to be relevant today, offering a spine chillingly accurate depiction of modern society with it’s various human emotions, hard line views and belief systems.

www.5pound.com.au

September 27 – October 8, 2011. 6:30 arrival for 7pm show.                                                                        

The Owl and the Pussycat - 34 Swan Street, Richmond (opposite Richmond Station).

Bookings: (03) 9660 9666 or www.melbournefringe.com.au

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