The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2025 - Issue 37

bitetheatre the last person I’d have expected to change like that. I felt more sure of him than myself.” He checks his cough and head for a bump and is informed that Mr Papillon has be- come a rhinoceros. The audience is directed to join in the kazoo punctuation, but by this time, I have become weary of blowing the noisy thing and discard it under my seat. Miss Daisy calms Berenger down as he becomes more agitated, and then she breaks out into an Italian song. Although I don’t understand the language, the song was sung in the most beautiful tone. From what I see, Miss Daisy kills the Jean-Rhinoceros, but with so much kazoo noise, I’m lost on why she does this. The group put the ra- dio on, but the only sound was more kazoo-ing. Strangely, the ceiling falls in at this point, too, to what I presume is a tenant upstairs turning into a rhinoceros, and the heav- iness has the ceiling give way. “The world is sick; they’re all sick.” The office junior is the voice of reason; they must all learn and understand their language while debating who are the justified beings - humans or the rhinoceroses. Berenger, still anxious and confused about whether he should or could change, tries a kazoo, but it makes no sound to him. “I should’ve followed them sooner. Look at them! I am a monster. I cannot change into a rhinoceros. I’m so ugly. I’ll resist against the whole world. I am the last man of the world.” The final ranting words are by the ravenous Berenger as the lights go down on this final act. “I won’t surrender. I won’t surrender. I won’t surrender.” Given these final scenes, the play has a philosophical meaning, but it is too absurdly presented to make a whole reason. I certainly needed a day or two to have it resonate. But as I write this review and further reflect on the absurd- ity I witnessed, I resolve that perhaps the play’s message speaks to the current culture of F.O.M.O (Fear of Missing Out) regarding mass movements in culture. Are we truly prejudiced against a community, or are we just following the masses? Do we want to be part of the culture we’ve just subscribed to, or are we just anxious about standing out? Are we just conforming? Indeed, reflections we should all aspire to. This play certainly provided humanity with food for thought. Rhinoceros was initially published in the late 1950s in Germany and was translated and directed by Omar Eler- ian, presumably readapted for this Almeida stage. More absurdity was infused into this version of the play by the visions of the director, supported by the costume team of Emma Ntinas, Stefania Tarantino, and Hair, Wigs & Make-up by Catherine Gibbons. Despite my new-found irk at Theatre of the Absurd, I re- spect the director, the production team and the cast mem- bers who all, bar Sọpẹ, played other characters in the en- semble. They gave voice to various sound effects, vocally or using other objects typically used in radio plays. Please visit the website to learn what’s happening this sea- son at Almeida Theatre. https://almeida.co.uk/whats-on Anoushka Lucas and Sọpẹ Dirisù