“Why do people always expect authors to answer questions? I am an author because I want to ask questions. If I had answers, I’d be a politician.”
― Eugene Ionesco
In an age when we are dissecting the nature of consciousness and reality—for instance whether we might be living in a simulation, a hypothesis that prominent theoretical physicists are beginning to promulgate without fear of ridicule—it is perhaps time for Eugene Ionesco’s satirical, absurd, mind-bending work to join Kafka’s or Orwell’s in the pantheon of truly iconic postmodern literary sages? Doubtless he is already considered a member of that group by connoisseurs, but actor Chris Noth noticed a distinct timidity in the U.S. when attempting to mount a New York production of the Romanian-French writer’s seminal play Rhinoceros, a blockbuster staged reading of which will be performed this Saturday, August 27, at Saint James Place in downtown Great Barrington, starring Mr. Noth and a cast of mostly local actors. “I’d been wanting to do the play for years and had the idea at one point of doing it at the Chichester Theatre Festival in England. There was just a lot more appetite in the UK for this material.” At one point, Mr. Noth saw the musical of King Kong on Broadway and a seed of inspiration took root in the zoological extravaganza on display: “In America we love visual spectacle. I thought, what if you took this giant creature and actually brought it to life on stage? To take that P.T. Barnum energy and fuse it with the multi-genre brilliance of Ionesco, who can flit effortlessly between comedy and tragedy and have you bawling your eyes out laughing and crying at the same time—it could be a way to make this material, which is so brilliant, more accessible to audiences and attractive to producers.”
In what is becoming a familiar chapter in all modern biographies, none more so than in that of the performing artist, Mr. Noth’s plans were temporarily derailed by COVID: “We had some bites but when the pandemic hit it was just … well, people wanted The Sound of Music.” Undeterred by the supposed lack of appetite for challenging material in a depressed, lockdown-stricken world, Mr. Noth persevered and connected with his roots in the Berkshires. “I used to bus into GB from Amenia where I went to school as a kid, I’ve been living here since 2012, my wife Tara is a board member at Berkshire Theatre Group and I was in American Buffalo there; it’s a marvelous community and we just adore it.” Then, he saw actor-producer Elizabeth Aspenlieder performing in Irish playwright Mark O’Rowe’s The Approach at Shakespeare & Company earlier this year: “I felt lucky to see her in that show, she was just phenomenal, and it turns out she’s also a born producer.” Ms. Aspenlieder, a veritable Swiss Army Woman, is currently producing multiple feature film projects in the Berkshires as well as continuing in her role as a key fundraiser and general macher on behalf of Shakespeare & Company, outside of her numerous celebrated acting roles with the company. As for mounting a staged reading with one day of rehearsal and a dozen actors’ schedules to manage, “producing is a little like that game Boggle—you shake all these letters and dice and elements together and there’s a degree of chaos, but what I truly love is that feeling when it all slots together and starts to make sense. To be able to create an atmosphere for actors that feels effortless, it takes plenty of work of course, but it is so rewarding.”
Ms. Aspenlieder and Mr. Noth’s dynamic, diverse cast is sourced almost entirely from the area, showing off yet another feather in the Berkshires’ artistic cap: “Chris and co-director Ken Cheeseman and I, we all got together and pitched in to come up with this cast, which is an incredible one. Having this pool of amazing local talent, it’s such an important part of being here. I encourage them to have a good time, to engage with the material in a joyful way. It’s called a “play” for a reason.” Aspenlieder explains that the event itself is designed to bring a little more firepower than your average table read: “We’re making things as interactive as possible, working with the wonderful Kevin Sprague of Studio 2 to create these exciting graphics, we’re doing social media outreach and have our little tagline: “It’s absurd … or is it?” Also, there will be sound effects and some special surprises within the reading itself.”
The play is dizzyingly inventive in its conceptualism while honoring the emotional reality
of living with such palpable, impending doom. Mr. Noth recalls, “When I was on Law & Order in the 90s, I met so many people who’d talk about climate change, saying this is already happening. Everything they talked about has come true, yet we’re still arguing about global warming. In Ionesco’s play, they’re debating whether it’s African or Asian rhinoceroses that are invading, when the problem is of course the invasion to begin with. His play asks, what happens when a lie is not exposed, when light is never fully shed on a deception? A few people have asked me, ‘why this play’? I say,’why not’? Now more than ever.” Just as rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic would not have prevented its sinking, neither will arguing over the minutiae and petty grievances of life distract us from the profound decisions which lie before us as a civilization. Ms. Aspenlieder reflects on the play in our modern context: “I think we all feel this sense of heightened awareness and trepidation. Is it COVID? Is it the war in Ukraine? Is it January 6th? How will people connect to Ionesco’s text now? I’m excited to find out.”
Plans for a future, fully-staged production are already on the boil; if you see a large rhinoceros being loaded into the back of a theater next summer, don’t call animal control. It’s only make-believe… or is it?
Saturday, August 27, at 7:00 pm. at Saint James Place. Tickets are free and available at the door. Limited seating.
