Robert Cohen - Theatre, Brief Version-McGraw-Hill Education (2016)

156 Chapter 6 The Director
Romanian director Gábor Tompa is represented here by this abstract and ritualized 2006 production of Rhinoceros
by fellow Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco. A hallmark of the theatre of the absurd, originally written
and produced in Paris, Rhinoceros is now considered a global masterpiece: a savagely comic portrayal of the
dehumanization of modern society, which turns humans into the equivalent of clumsy, brawling, thick-skinned
animals—portrayed here by masked and trench-coated robotic creatures behind the one remaining human holdout,
Ionesco’s signature character of Beringer. The performance was produced by the Radu Stanca National Theatre
and staged at the Sibiu International Theatre Festival in 2006. © Sibiu International Theatre Festival
example, is about love, ambition, sisterhood, despair,
the oppression of women, rivalry between social classes,
the social freedom of professional men, the oppression
of rural Russian domesticity, the agony of unfulfilled
hope, the corruption of provincial czarist bureaucracy,
and the seeds of a coming revolution. It is also a play
that can be, and has been, staged as a comedy, tragedy, or
romance. But a director who tries to give equal weight to
all those themes and styles would create a mess—a production
that is unfocused and all over the place. While
a director’s vision may ultimately incorporate many of
the play’s possible themes, they must be prioritized, and
one of them should be given the highest priority. That
highest-priority image, idea, style, or emotion becomes
the core principle that will give the production shape,
meaning, importance, and momentum. It will help audience
members clarify what the production is “about,”
and what it “means.”
How does a director decide on a single core principle?
There is no universally correct answer to that question.
Although research is important, the decision-making
is essentially a creative task. One helpful exercise is
to ask, “What should a poster for this production look
like?” Should a poster of Three Sisters show the image
of Masha’s final embrace with her lover? the sisters
abandoned by the soldiers at the final curtain? Natasha
hiding in shame from the sisters gossiping about her in
the next room? a birthday party of gaily laughing women