Download Rhinoceros bid - Michael Pilch Studio

RHINOCEROS
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EUGÈNE IONESCO’S RHInOceros bid- contents
• team biographies • Synopsis • Director’s statement • PRODUCER’S STATEMENT • Design statement • costume statement • set design • puppetry images • Marketing statement • budget -
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[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
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TEAM BIOS
PETE SAYER - DIRECTOR
Pete is a second year student at Balliol studying History. At Oxford,
he has performed in an abridged version of Enda Walsh’s The
Walworth Farce during the Cuppers Festival [MT14] played ‘Lamb’
in Harold Pinter’s The Hothouse at the Michael Pilch Studio
[TT15], ’M’ and ‘A’ in Beckett’s Play and That Time in the BT studio
[TT15], ‘Phileas Fogg’ in Curious Grin’s production of Around the
World in 80 Days [OUDS National Tour, 2015] and ‘Paris’ in The
Changing of the Guard [HT16], directed by Iqbal Khan. Last term,
Pete co-project managed the transformation of the Michael Pilch
Studio into a modern theatre venue, which culminated in a
production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, which he directed.
Previously, Pete has been heavily involved in theatre, working as an actor and writer both for
Babolin Theatre in their devised piece, Sentinels [2013], which debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe
and for Nasu Enzuru in their adaptations of Alice in Wonderland [2014], Romeo and Juliet [2014]
and The Seagull [2012]. Pete’s directing credits outside of Oxford include Take the Fast Train
[2012], a devised musical which aired at the ADC and Robinson Theatre in Cambridge and The
Odyssey: An Epic Musical Epic [2014] which toured Cambridge before a highly successful run in
Edinburgh. Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros will be the first time Pete has worked so heavily with
puppets and will fulfil a long-held desire to do so.
conor jordan - producer
Conor is a second year Undergraduate English student and is the
Balliol College Drama Society President. At Oxford his acting
credits include Enda Walsh’s The Walworth Farce [BT Studio,
cuppers MT14], the Ashmolean Museum’s LiveFriday celebration
[HT15], The Jungle Book [Pilch, HT15], and Robin Hood [Pilch,
HT16]. His directorial credits are largely in television, with funding
from the BBC leading to his own writing being realised on screen.
In TT15 Conor directed and produced The Hothouse (Pinter) at the
Michael Pilch Studio. His other producing credits include
Rosmersholm [BT Studio, MT15]; Gruffdog Theatre’s Julius Caesar
[Pilch, MT15]; Knotwork’s pussyfooting [MT15]; and the MT15
OUDS Cuppers Festival. Conor Also has extensive Marketing
Manager credits, including His Dark Materials: Part 2 [O’Reilly, TT15]; Britten’s opera The Turn of
the Screw [SJE, MT16]; the OUDS New Writing Festival [OUDS, HT16]; and Phantom of the Opera
[O’Reilly, HT16]. Conor was also the co-project manager of the Michael Pilch Studio renovations in
MT16. Next term Conor will be producing an experimental puppetry rendition of Ionesco’s
Rhinoceros to the Pilch, as well as working on an Edinburgh Fringe tour of pussyfooting [OUDS
national tour 2016] and producing The Nether for the Oxford Playhouse [MT16].
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TEAM BIOS (cont.)
DAISY PEARSON - HEAD DESIGNER
Daisy Pearson is a second year English Literature student at
Balliol. She has held various and diverse design roles whilst at
Oxford, working as assistant costume designer on Phantom of the
Opera at the Keble O’Reilly [HT16], graphic designer and assistant
costume designer on Julius Caesar at the Michael Pilch [MT15],
costume designer on Paradise Lost, performed in New College
chapel [TT15], set designer on The Hothouse at the Michael Pilch
Studio [TT15], costume designer on the Balliol Charity Musical
[HT15]. In addition she is currently illustrating the Balliol JCR
poetry anthology and is the graphic designer and head of
decorations for the Balliol Garden Party TT16. Daisy first became
involved in theatre design whilst at Oxford, however prior to this she did a foundation course in Art
& Design at Leeds College of Art, and attends Glastonbury festival each year as part of a creative
team. Rhinoceros [TT16] will be the first time she has worked extensively with puppets of all sizes!
rachael ince-kitson - costume designer
Rachael is a second year History student at Balliol College.
Before Oxford, she was a member of Stage Struck Youth Theatre
for 2 years and acted in various musical productions including
Guys and Dolls [2011]. She was Bagheera in Balliol’s Charity
Musical The Jungle Book [2015] and is in this year’s musical
Robin Hood [HT16]. Rachael has particularly enjoyed various
creative and design roles at Oxford. She was costume designer
for Harold Pinter’s The Hothouse in the Michael Pilch Studio
[TT15], costume and prop designer for Gruffdog Theatre’s Julius
Caesar in the newly renovated Michael Pilch Studio [MT15],
costume assistant for Milton’s Paradise Lost: A Rehearsed
Reading in New College Chapel [2015] and she is the costume designer for an Oxford University
funded short film Marauders [2016] which is due to be filmed at the end of Hilary Term. She is
really looking forward to being part of such a talented team and it will be the first time she has
worked on a project involving puppets.
KSENIA KULAKOVA - SET DESIGNER
Ksenia is a first year student studying German and Spanish at Oriel
College. As a designer she has worked on Master and Margarita (St
John’s Gardens MT 2015) and This World Lousy (SJE HT 2016).
After her first term she has been broadening her repertoire with
numerous upcoming design projects including OUDS New Writing
Festival 2016 (BT HT16), Attempts on Her Life (BT, HT16); Eugene
Ionesco’s Rhinoceros (Pilch, TT16); QUEUEUE; Dr. Faustus;
Woyzeck (O’Reilly, TT16) and Colin and Katya (Northwall TT16) to
name just a few. She will attend the Technical Theatre Course
offered by RADA this summer for Costume and Set Design for
Theatre.
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TEAM BIOS (cont.)
molly nickson - puppet designer
Molly Nickson is a first-year undergraduate studying History of Art
at Christ Church. She acted in and worked on props for Dart
(Burton Taylor MT15). Before coming to Oxford she was a longstanding member of Blackheath Youth Theatre, most recently
playing roles in Three Sisters, The Government Inspector and Our
Country’s Good. She completed a Fine Art Foundation course at
the Royal Drawing School in London in 2015, and is currently
working on a new print series. She also spent some years as a
volunteer with children’s art workshops at Dulwich Picture Gallery,
making everything from birds, to clouds and beards. She hopes that
these slightly disparate experiences will draw together in working
on Rhinoceros, her first, much-anticipated, outing into puppetry.
Suzie King - Puppet designer
Suzie has performed in Once a Catholic for Cuppers (BT Studio,
MT14) and in Macbeth (Regent’s Park College Quad, HT15). As
part of a production team she has worked as marketing manager
and production assistant for the one man show Captain Amazing
(BT Studio HT15) as marketing manager and graphic designer for
Ayckbourn’s Living Together (Oxford Playhouse, TT15), and as
assistant producer for His Dark Materials: Part 2 (Keble O’Reilly,
TT15), as well as on the teams for The Three Musketeers (Keble
O’Reilly, MT15), The Master and Margarita (St John’s garden,
MT15), String (BT Studio, MT15), RENT (Oxford Playhouse, HT16),
and Coriolanus (Regent’s Park College Quad, HT16) as marketing
Manager and graphic Designer. Alongside Rhinoceros, Suzie will be designing the graphics for Dr.
Faustus (Keble O’Reilly, TT16), and The Playboy of the Western World (Oxford Playhouse, TT16),
both of which are in their bid stage. Rhinoceros will be Suzie’s first physical design based role on a
production in Oxford, but with a creative background having completed art at A Level, she is
looking forward to the opportunity of being actively involved in the physical production.
Cealach McKeating - project manager
Cealach is a second year undergraduate studying History at Balliol
College. She has taken part in numerous productions both inside
and outside of university. Cealach has embraced roles ranging from
acting to costume managing. Her costume management credits
outside of university drama include The Wizard of Oz. She
particularly enjoys stage management and has stage managed for
two sell-out musicals (Little Women and Oh! What a Lovely War)
and large-scale charity dance and fashion show. At university she
starred in the Balliol charity musical The Jungle Book [HT15], and
more recently, she has acted in a production of Pinter’s The
Hothouse [TT15] at the Michael Pilch Studio. Most recently, she
was the Production Manager for the sell-out Julius Caesar [MT15].
She looks to channel her diverse experience of theatre production into effective production
management of the many ambitious creative elements of Rhinoceros.
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TEAM BIOS (cont.)
Daisy Cutts - Marketing Manager
Daisy is a second year undergraduate from Balliol College studying
History and Economics. Her experience in theatre since arriving at
Oxford includes Assistant Producing West Side Story at the Oxford
Playhouse [MT14]. Before she came to university, Daisy was
heavily involved in music and drama as an actor, dancer and Grade
8 pianist. During her time at sixth form she was a member of the
accompanying orchestra for the musical Annie, and whilst at school
has performed in Oliver, The Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Dance Through
the Ages and various talent shows. During Hilary Term 2015 she
both performed in, and coordinated costumes, for the Balliol
College Charity Musical The Jungle Book. She was also Stage
Manager and Production Manager for the St Annes Musical Revue, Revolution!, in first week of
Trinity 2015, and Production Manager of Pinter’s The Hothouse in third week. Her most recent
Oxford Drama role was Marketing Manager for Julius Caesar at the Michael Pilch Studio [MT15].
The maiden show in the refurbished studio was hugely successful, selling out for all four
performances.
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SYNOPSIS
Two friends, Jean and Berenger meet in a café in the town square of a small provincial village in France. The
unspecified reason for the urgent nature of their meeting is lost in the mundane squabbles of the
townspeople. The well-dressed and self-assured Jean berates his tardy, drunken and scruffy friend
encouraging him to straighten out both his hair, and his life.
The civility of the morning is broken by a fierce trumpeting and confused reports of a rhinoceros sighting that
begins to filter through to the people sitting in the café. There is outrage, disbelief and amazement from the
townspeople in equal measure, but the morally-uptight Jean is immediately sure of his feelings towards the
rhino. However, much to the annoyance of Jean, Berenger is far more concerned about the arrival of the
beautiful typist, Daisy, who he feels will never be interested in an employee as low-level as himself.
Jean begins to instruct Berenger on the sure-fire path to Daisy’s affections, when their conversation is
disturbed by a second rhino and the lamentations of a woman whose cat was crushed in the beast’s
rampage. The townspeople’s fury becomes tangled in details regarding the number of horns the Rhino had
and, finally infuriated by Jean’s cocky assurance that he can easily tell the difference between ‘Asiatic’ and
‘African’ rhinoceroses, Berenger storms out.
Many townspeople still disbelieve the existence of ‘rhinoceritis’. In Berenger’s office, the co-workers argue
with the skeptical Botard. A tardy Berenger sneaks in late, aided by Daisy. Mrs. Boeuf arrives in a bluster to
pass on the news that her husband, one of Berenger’s co-workers, is sick, but she is more concerned by the
fact that she has just been chased by a rhinoceros, which is still waiting downstairs and trying to climb up to
the office. In the process of trying to ascend, the rhino crushes the staircase and strands the co-workers;
Daisy is forced to call the fire-brigade to come rescue them and Botard is forced to concede that rhinoceritis
is real. Suddenly recognising the rhino as Mr. Boeuf, her husband, Mrs. Boeuf ignores all attempts to reason
with her, jumps down the stairwell and rides off on the rhino’s back.
Berenger goes to visit a sick Jean, who is in bed with a sore throat. When Berenger comments that Jean’s
voice has grown hoarse, Jean argues that it is in fact Berenger’s voice that has changed, and that his
forehead hurts. Berenger notices that Jean’s skin has changed colour and that he has a large bump on his
face. Jean’s anger builds and he rails against society, pacing around the room like a caged animal. At the
knowledge of Mr. and Mrs. Boeuf turning into rhinos, his opinions become increasingly aggressive until he
explodes in a fit of rage, transforming into a huge rhinoceros that forces Berenger out the door. Berenger
runs down the hallway to alert the tenants but they all accuse him of disturbing the peace. He goes to the
porters lodge where he is greeted by another Rhinoceros. Barrelling back up the stairs, he finds himself
surrounded by rhinoceroses which charge him out of the building and on to the street.
Berenger wakes up from a rhino-nightmare in his bed, removing a bandage from his head to check for a
sprouting rhinoceros horn. Dudard interrupts his paranoia to discuss the rhinoceros problem, but is
profoundly more jovial about the whole issue. Berenger’s fears are only compounded by the sight of the
logician in rhino form.
Daisy arrives, informing them that Botard has transformed in an attempt to ‘move with the times’. The fire
crew, who have now all transformed, sack the fire-station and destroy part of Berenger’s house. Dudard
decides that he wants to experience the epidemic first hand, and leaves to become a rhinoceros.
By now, the noise of the rhinos has begun to sound more like a symphony, and even Daisy is forced to
remark that it sounds beautiful. Berenger professes his love for her, but as rhinoceroses begin to surround
them and their fear deepens, Daisy capitulates and joins the herd. Berenger is left alone.
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Director’s statement
Eugène Ionesco’s chilling assessment of mob-mentality, mass movement and the limitations of
logic remains as relevant as ever. Originally written as an exploration of the rise of fascism and the
far-right movements of the 20th century, Rhinoceros nevertheless presents a black mirror to
modern society, reflecting the dangers of consensus politics in a time of crisis.
Through a mixture of set, music and sound, we hope to transform the Pilch into the warped french
provincial town that provides a backdrop to the events of the play, the majority of the action taking
place on a multi-levelled thrust stage, but also in the aisles and among the audience. I am very
excited at exploring the dynamic between the audience feeling acutely aware that they are in a
theatre in some moments, and feeling swept up by the events in others, mimicking the seemingly
irresistible pull of ‘rhinoceritis’ within the world of the play.
On the surface, Rhinoceros is an absurdist comedy and there is a lot of joy to be found in the fastpaced and witty to-and-fros between the characters. However, for me, the real excitement lies in
the metamorphosis of human into animal, the creation of a town stricken with ‘rhinoceritis’ and
exploration of the theatrical possibilities created in trying to tell a story so dependent of the arrival
of a huge, rampaging animal.
Storytelling will be central to our realisation of Ionesco’s play. Inventive use of puppetry, lighting,
shadows, movement, music, scale and smells will be the tools used by the cast who will not only
occupy a single part, but form part of an ensemble of puppeteers in order to tell this technically
ambitious narrative. Jean’s transformation will see the actors puppeteer miniature versions of
themselves, a shadow puppet of a rhinoceros and a life-sized rhino all in a matter of moments.
Throughout Berenger’s last stand, the stage will be flooded by a cast of rhino heads whose
‘trumpeting’ will have transformed into the sound of a beautiful musical arrangement, driving the
play to its startling climax.
The multi-layering of design elements (largely set, puppets and sound) and their employment by an
ensemble cast will shape both the final product and the rehearsal process; the cast and crew will
continue to work together throughout, feeding off the work of each other in order to try and find
either the most beautiful, comical or stark means to tell the story. Puppetry is obviously a vital part
of the production, and I am absolutely thrilled to be working with such a large, ambitious and
talented design team.
Staging Rhinoceros in the Pilch presents a fantastic opportunity for immersion. Just as in the play
the cramped interior spaces render the rhinoceroses all the more terrifying, so the arrival of a life
size rhinoceros puppet will fill our stage in the Pilch and help generate the impression of a genuine
threat; the thrust staging will render the beast trapped by the audience, its aggression directed
towards them. Equally when the storytelling necessitates the stage to be shrunk to the size of a
puppet-theatre, the Pilch provides the intimacy required.
Towards the end of the play, Ionesco’s stage directions demand that the rhinoceroses are more
beautiful than ever. The rhinoceroses’ music and displays of raw power renders it obvious to the
townspeople that those who have contracted ‘rhinoceritis’ are on the winning side, the ‘new
normal’. This lies at the heart of our vision for Rhinoceros, we hope to create a sense of genuine
wonder and excitement through our storytelling methods, with a careful eye on the dark heart at
the centre of the work.
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producer’s statement
Gruffdog Theatre is delighted to bring this highly imaginative retelling of Ionesco’s
masterpiece to the Michael Pilch Studio. Following on from the success of the sellout Pilch
run of Gruffdog’s Julius Caesar last term, we hope to continue channeling our philosophy
of bringing new theatre practises to the Oxford drama scene. We return with an
experienced crew, all of whom have huge amounts of experience working in the Pilch.
We have 55 auditionees for this play already. Given the focus on puppetry in this piece, we
will be tailoring the callbacks to exploring these techniques, ensuring that the cast we
assemble is fully equipped for the particular needs of this show. We will been fully cast by
mid7th Week of this term, with initial characterisation sessions completed before term
ends. We also intend on conducting rehearsals during the easter vac in order to have
enough time to work with the cast on technique.
We have already had a number of design meetings, in which we have devised a vision for
the aesthetic of the piece, and how we are going to build the crumbling provincial French
town environment. Given the ambitions for the set, this really is a show which will best suit
the Pilch, and the entire development process has centred around our desire to bring this
show to this Studio. During this planning stage we have also talked extensively about the
puppet building process. This project is very exciting because not only does the
performance involve puppetry, but we have assembled a team of puppet builders and we
intend on constructing the puppets from scratch. There will be a mixture of technically
simple puppets, and more complex machines, and as well as an extensive research
process we will be developing prototypes and scale models before attempting the final
things.
In terms of budget our final figures are the result of extensive planning and research with
each department, and we are confident that they’ll carry us through the development
process, particularly when it comes to set and the puppetry. Our marketing budget also
has healthy reserves to allow us to pursue a number of innovative avenues of research.
Our breakeven is exceptionally low for a project that we are confident will be popular and
sell well.
We firmly believe that this type of show, and this level of experimentation is vital to
maintaining the Pilch as a beating heart of brave new theatre around Oxford, and we’re
relishing the opportunity to explore this piece.
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Design Statements
Set
A tired French provincial town. A café, and a grocery, and a few other indistinguishable shops, rise
from a dusty town square. You get the impression that nothing has changed here for many
decades, except a slow decaying. Our set will comprise of three levels, created from stage deck,
starting at a height of 1m, with a main level at 0.5m, and sprawling out into the thrust at ground
level. The impression will be that the town is slowly crumbling, and fragilely susceptible to
disruption. We will dress the stage deck in smooth, worn, faded wood & fraying hessian – simple
and rustic.
The locations of Act 1 will be gestured at, rather than explicitly realized; a few stacked crates of
apples for the grocery, and a sun-faded sign reading “épicerie”, and a vintage circular table,
complete with red and white checked tablecloth, and bistro chairs for the café. We aim to blur the
distinctions between the levels through a series of overlapping elements: street lanterns hang from
the ceiling, washing-lines drape across the back wall, and details like the “épicerie” sign will
traverse the divide between the ground level, and 0.5m level of stage deck – creating no finished
lines or harsh edges. On one side of the theatre the centre level of stage deck will join up with the
stage deck used for the back level of seating, creating a continuity between audience and stage,
and an immersive atmosphere.
By the second act the town has begun to crumble under the destructive force of numerous
rhinoceroses, meaning the dusty external setting of the first act will merge into the disintegrating
office and bedroom of the second act. We will experiment with creative lighting to fashion spatial
divisions. Key set pieces such as the bulky 50s office desk and a filing cabinet will be
complemented by authentic details such as vintage typewriters to effectively transform the stage.
The same will occur for the transformation into Jean and Berenger’s bedrooms. Ideally all set items
and props will be onstage at all times, and will be transformable into something else for each
scene. We want to avoid disruptive set changes at all costs; if they really are necessary they
should be able to be built into the action of the play itself. More importantly, undeniably the most
exciting part of this production is the puppetry, and the set should not distract from this.
Puppets
A selection of puppets and masks will help to realise the onstage transformations from man into
rhinoceros. A life-size cat puppet will be the first to appear – setting the tone for the play. It will be
beautifully crafted, delicate and characterful, with the ability for relatively complex movement.
There will also be a miniature rhinoceros puppet, probably a similar size to the cat, and a miniature
puppet of Jean, so that parts of the transformation can occur on a small scale, before zooming out
to a full size rhinoceros puppet. The large rhinoceros, and perhaps the small one, will be
constructed of distinct parts that can be brought together – a separation perhaps disguised by the
armoured plates, which will slot together, overlapping to disguise the joins. This will help draw out
the transformation process, give the actors greater freedom of interpretation, whilst also making
the creation process significantly easier! A number of rhinoceros masks will enable us to enact the
final scenes of the play, in which rhinoceroses gradually overwhelm the set. Each mask, and
puppet, will be a thing of beauty – making the suggestion at the end, that surely everyone must
agree on the beauty and elegance of the rhinoceros – utterly believable.
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Costume Statement
Our staging of rhinoceros will be fast paced and hectic, with performers forced to change from puppeteer to
character to character at lightning fast speeds. Costume, therefore will be comprised of items that are simple
and clear – a hat, an apron, a briefcase – to complete the image for an instant and then discard.
Puppetry is obviously central to our production, and at times, it is important that the performers’ costumes
don’t detract from the objects they are bringing to life. There will therefore be a ‘base’ costume of black
elements. I am still keen that these costumes befit the overall aesthetic, and will be looking into black braces,
shirts, caps and smart shoes.
Excluding those occasions when it is important for the actors to be relatively invisible, costuming will reflect
the bourgeois café culture of the French Rivera, sun-stained but immaculate. The palette will be light and
muted, centred around faun, beige, brown and cream and I will be selecting trousers and braces, crisp,
cream, linen shirts and suit jackets, prim waistcoats, smart brogues and the odd beret or trilby. I will
communicate with our artistic design team so that I specifically select colours which complement their work
and belong to the same palette used for their puppets.
The costumes of the three lead characters are fairly important: Jean’s costume will be strait-laced, well-fitting
and debonair and reflect the set-up of his apparently dependable character. Berenger will adorn a slightly
scruffier ensemble – his attire will be more creased, faded and his tie and shirt will be un-tucked. As the play
progresses, Berenger will become scruffier amidst his struggle against the society around him. Daisy will
wear a pretty but understated dress with a delicate and barely-noticeable pattern. She might be described as
pretty and prim, but perhaps not beautiful and certainly never ‘sexy’.
SET DESIGN
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Marketing Statement
The marketing campaign for Rhinoceros will heavily focus on the puppetry used in the performance.
Puppetry is rarely utilised in Oxford drama; because of this, we expect a high level of interest in the play.
Plays like Rhinoceros, with Ionesco’s absurdist voice bringing together elements of black comedy with
political theatre are not commonplace in Oxford. By virtue of its exciting combination of theatrical styles, and
also by virtue of its innovative use of puppetry and technical elements, this play is sure to stand out as a very
interesting piece.
The marketing strategy for Rhinoceros consists of two main avenues;
1. A poster campaign with a 3D twist.
2. A social media campaign with a heavy focus on video footage and trailers.
Through both of these avenues, I aim to heavily emphasise the distinctive features of the play outlined
above.
The poster campaign will feature 3D rhinoceros horns bursting through the two dimensional surface of the
posters. This eye catching, innovative element to the poster campaign will highlight the creativity of this play,
and will allude to the use of a life size rhinoceros puppet in the play itself. The poster campaign will begin in
1st week of Trinity term, to coincide with the online ticket launch.
The social media campaign will focus on a series of high quality videos, documenting the progression of the
behind-the-scenes preparations for the play and culminating in a trailer to be released during 0th week of
Trinity Term. The initial videos will show the Rhinoceros cast testing and practising with prototypes of the
puppets, which will once again emphasise the puppetry which makes this play so exciting. The trailer will
have more of a focus on the play itself and will give the audience a sense of the storyline and atmosphere of
the play as a whole.
The high demand for audition slots indicates that there is already a sense of excitement surrounding this play
amongst theatre enthusiasts, and by bringing out the high level of artistry involved in this production in our
marketing campaign I hope to build upon this strong foundation of interest. Additionally, the Michael Pilch
Studio is currently very popular in Oxford, and momentum is building behind this highly flexible, new, exciting
venue. Rhinoceros and the Pilch go hand in hand perfectly; both are new and unusual for Oxford drama, and
this cohesiveness will further strengthen my marketing campaign
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