Absurdity is coming to State College this weekend, and it's shaped like a rhinoceros.
Tonight at 8 and tomorrow afternoon at 2, No Refund Theater (NRT) will perform Eugene Ionesco's absurdist play Rhinoceros in 111 Forum. The show is free.
"It's about a small village in the south of France that is overrun by rhinoceroses, beginning with one showing up in the main square," director Tim Portnoy (senior-theatre) said. "The play focuses on how the townspeople deal with the problem."
Gradually the people in the town begin turning into rhinoceroses, except for one of the main characters, Berenger, played by NRT president Jonathan Kroberger (senior-film). "My character is an angry alcoholic that refuses to turn into a rhinoceros," Kroberger said. "It's my goal through out the whole play."
Although the plot has elements of the absurd, the play contains important messages and themes, Portnoy said. "It deals with conformity, individualism and fallacies in logic, flawed ways of thinking," he said. "Because it is absurd -- it approaches a lot of issues in an uncommon way. It pokes fun at them in an uncommon way. It makes you think."
Jillian Meek (sophomore-theatre) who plays Daisy, Berenger's love interest, said the play presents its message in a unique manner. "The script is really exceptional because it has a good message, but it presents it in a funny way," she said.
Meek said although the play was written decades ago, the issues it addresses are still significant. "It has plenty of comedy, but it also deals with important issues that were going on in the world at the time and are still going on now. It's a serious statement about human nature," she said.
Portnoy said the play has both a humorous tone and a philosophical one. "However, it's more to the side of humorous," he said.
Portnoy also said although the messages in the play are seen through absurdism, the play does have an aspect of reality in it.
"There is an element of truth and reality in the play so that the audience can care about the characters," he said.
