My own experience
watching a staging of Eugène Ionesco's Rhinoceros a
few years ago left me frustrated. As with other absurdist comedies I've
read, I found this play, about a town where everyone slowly turns into
rhinoceroses, to be weighed down by too much philosophising and its
premise simply too outlandish for a cynical modern-day audience member
like me to fully accept; I could not fully invest in the world of the
play and could not therefore truly appreciate its existentialist message.
I thus thought director Zizi Azah's choice for the annual Full
Frontal series (where emerging directors are given a platform as
part of the Singapore Arts Festival) was an odd one. However, her version
of Rhinoceros proved to connect with the audience, thanks,
in no small part, to her judicious paring down of Ionesco's loquacious
script (of which only two-thirds remain) and her use of certain theatrical
flourishes which helped the comic elements to shine more brightly. For
example, throughout Act 3, she had the ensemble cast react to a conversation
between everyman protagonist Berenger (Rodney Oliveiro) and his friend
Jean (Karen Tan) in a series of exaggerated comic tableaux as seen by
the audience through a hanging frame.
In fact, aside from some problems with sight-lines due to a moveable
door frame, I thought that Acts 2 and 3 were particularly well-directed.
The second act is essentially comedic with elements of slapstick while
the third focuses on articulating the play's message about group behaviour
and conformity - Berenger refuses to turn into a rhinoceros even though
his friends, colleagues and lover have all given in - and Zizi handled
both acts with aplomb, especially in terms of calibrating pace and timing,
resulting in particularly effective work from Serene Chen and Melvinder
Kanth.
I had problems, however, with how she handled Act 1. While Berenger
and Jean are engaged in dialogue at the front of the stage, Zizi had
the rest of the ensemble cast visible in the background for a full twenty
minutes or so, engaging in repeated motions - a funny walk, for example
- which only occasionally broke into improvised interactions with other
actors. It was useful having all of the cast onstage throughout the
scene because the ensemble cast would also sometimes interact with Berenger
and Jean, and I understand that their restricted movements served as
a metaphor for how society is trapped in a machine-like system. But
for the most part their physical presence in the background proved distracting,
especially since the cast was confined to such a small playing space;
I also felt it all came across a little school play-ish.* In addition,
when the ensemble cast did intrude into the conversation in the foreground,
they tended to break the rhythm of the play rather than flow into it
organically because the timing was a little mechanical.
Still, I respect that part of the point of Full Frontal is
to give new directors the space to explore and try out different approaches.
It is therefore nice that Zizi chose, as Robin Loon, one of the dramaturgs,
said in the talkback session, an "old school" approach rather than,
for example say, bringing in multimedia to physicalise the public masses
because it gave the play a different flavour from what we might expect.
Where I think Zizi really needs to grow as a director, though, is in
terms of working with the actors. Some of the ensemble, especially the
relatively inexperienced ones, needed more guidance as they were not
always able to capture the spirit or timing demanded of this specific
genre of theatre. Even a seasoned actress like Tan who otherwise turned
in a strong performance sometimes seemed a little uncomfortable with
the rhythms of the dialogue in Act 1.
I also did not always feel that the cast was working together to create
a holistic piece of work. Rather, it often felt as if each was just
doing his or her own thing and this was especially true of the more
experienced actors. Oliveiro, for example, is likeable and charismatic
and has good comic timing; I've enjoyed his work in plays such as The
Gospel According to Mark. However, in the last couple of performances
of his that I have seen, he seems to be trading primarily in funny faces
and dramatic gestures to achieve comic effect; I sometimes feel as if
he is striking poses onstage for still pictures to advertise a comedy
rather than actually acting in one. This is a highly limited approach:
in Rhinoceros, as in The
Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ, and in Machine
from last year's Full Frontal, the audience needs to be able
to go deeper into his character, and I found it difficult to do so because
of this decision to adopt such a cartoonish approach to the acting.
It would have helped if Zizi had reined him in a little. Similarly,
while Tan's slow onstage transformation into a rhinoceros was masterfully
performed, I guessed (and this was later confirmed in the talkback session)
that she was very much doing her own thing rather than performing under
Zizi's specific influence.
As a director, Zizi has to decide whether she wants to be a competent
director, able to stage solid, if perhaps slightly anonymous pieces
of work or if she wants to be an auteur with a strong vision, creating
works with a distinct stamp of Zizi-ness. A good example of the latter
is Natalie Hennedige whose works are unmistakably hers, not only in
terms of visual aesthetics but even in the way actors work with her.
Michael Corbidge is a phenomenal actor but I would not have thought
he would ever fit into Hennedige's world, and it is to her credit as
much as his that he delivered such a startling performance in her
Queen Ping. Judging from Zizi's plays that I've seen, I
believe she has the potential to be either kind of director. If she
wants to be the latter, however, I feel she needs to develop even greater
confidence in her not unremarkable abilities and exert greater control.
If I sound a little prescriptive in this review and if I am focusing
too much on Zizi specifically, it is because I believe that is what
the Full Frontal platform is for: it is a director's showcase
and the audience is meant to offer input and feedback to try and help
the director grow as an artist. However, let me end off by saying that,
on the whole, this is indeed an entertaining production which is well
worth watching not only for Zizi but also for the generally capable
performances and I believe it is a good entry point into absurdist theatre
for the relatively uninitiated.
*The same can be said of the collapsing of the overhead structure above
the stage as the last dramatic moment of the play. In the talkback session,
Zizi said that this was to symbolise the breaking down of the system
and then added that it's "fun" to have something crash suddenly. Erm,
I'm not sure that is a valid artistic choice, especially when I spent
most of the play distracted and wondering why there was a giant red
trapezium hanging over the actors.
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"Zizi has to decide whether she wants to be a competent director,
able to stage solid, if perhaps slightly anonymous pieces of work or
if she wants to be an auteur with a strong vision, creating works with
a distinct stamp of Zizi-ness."
Credits
Director: Zizi Azah Bte Abdul Majid
Dramaturg (Playwriting): Robin Loon
Dramaturg (Directing): Kok Heng Leun
Production Stage Manager / Sound Operator: Elnie Shumastri
Assistant Stage Manager / Costume Coordinator: Molizah
Mohter
Lighting Designer: Fita Helmi
Sound Designer: Mohamed Anaiz Abdul Majid
Set Designer: Dennis Cheok
Cast: Rodney Oliveiro, Karen Tan, Anjana Srinivasan,
Melvinder Kanth, Tan Shou Chen, Serene Chen and Kalai Grace
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