What happens when you take a play that was originally three acts, condense it into an 88-minute production with lackluster actors playing the roles?
You get a lackluster production that is difficult to keep the audience’s attention even for that short of a time.
Director Bruce McLeod needed to find more believable actors than the ones who took the stage at Foothill Theatre Arts in Lohman Theatre in Los Altos Hills last Friday night. The production runs through June 8.
As Berenger, Caitie Clancey at times made the audience hope that she would get her act together, but most of her scenes seemed rote rather than real. Her counterpart and boss, Liam Malla as John, also has his moments, especially whenever he went into his bathroom and then came out with a larger horn on his forehead as he turned into a rhinoceros before the audience’s eyes.
But even that gets old fast.
Tiffany Walters as Papillion also has a few good scenes, as does Daniel Spiteri Sr. as Corey, but the rest of the cast is easily forgettable.
Laura Merrill’s scenic design consists of some photos that are enlarged across the sides and back of the stage and about 20 feet from the floor. There’s also a slanted table with a tablecloth, some containers of fruit, a sign that says “Boeuf’s” and another sign that says “Eggs $1.99.” On the other side of the stage is a table and two chairs, and a high counter with a sign that says “Doggies.”
As far as costumes go, most of the actors look as if they are wearing their own clothes, although it’s possible costume designer Julie Engelbrecht selected some of the actor’s clothing. She likely also created the rhino horns that appear on Hogsett’s forehead.
One of the most authentic sounds in this show are the rhinoceros sounds emanating from offstage. At times it did, indeed, sound as if there were a herd of rhinos outside.
Edward Hunter’s lighting filled the stage so that the audience could see all that was going on.
Another problem with this production is that some of the actors and what they were doing just weren’t all that interesting. Do we care when an older woman comes in, sits down to have some coffee and carries her little dog in a basket? Do we care when a young man wearing a beige-and-black vest portends to be a “know-it-all” and pontificates to the audience?
A resounding no.
When Eugene Ionesco wrote “Rhinoceros,” his three-act play in 1959, it supposedly was considered a criticism of the sudden upsurge of Nazism prior to the beginning of World War II. It explored the themes of conformity, mob mentality, morality and logic.
So with all that is happening in the United States now, perhaps director McLeod felt it was a good time to offer up a condensed version of “Rhinoceros.” If that was his intent, it was a good one.
But this production just seems too banal to be what he wanted it to be.
Foothill Theatre Arts, Lohman Theatre, 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills. Shows: Thursdays, May 29 and June 5 at 7:39 p.m.; Fridays, May 30 and June 6 at 8 p.m.; Saturdays, May 31 and June 7, at 8 p.m. and Sundays, June 1 and June 8 at 2 p.m. For tickets ($5 – $20), call (650) 949-7360 or visit www.foothill.edu/theater
Joanne Engelhardt is a former San Jose Mercury and Santa Cruz Sentinel writer and theatre critic, and is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. Contact: joanneengelhardt@comcast.net.