University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2019-05-16 Writing on the Walls: Reimagining Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinoceros Anastasakis, Constantine Xionis Anastasakis, C. X. (2019). Writing on the Walls: Reimagining Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinoceros (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/110326 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Writing on the Walls: Reimagining Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinoceros by Constantine Xionis Anastasakis A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF FINE ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN DRAMA CALGARY, ALBERTA MAY, 2019 © Constantine Xionis Anastasakis 2019 Abstract This artist’s statement is a critical reflection on the creative process that culminated in the staging of Eugene Ionesco’s play Rhinoceros at the University of Calgary’s Reeve Theatre from November 30th to December 8th, 2019. The first chapter introduces my initial ideas and approaches to the production at the beginnings of my research, and how these ideas evolved based on my experience(s) in Greece. The second chapter contextualizes the play within my research, including Eugene Ionesco’s body of work, the contemporary social, political, and cultural framework that informed the reconceptualization, specifically Greece’s debt crisis and the resultant unrest evident in Athens’ graffiti and protest-turned-riots. The third chapter focuses on revisions, additions, and reinterpretations of the text that manifested in the production. The fourth chapter outlines the collaborative process with designers, actors, and academics moving from rehearsal to performance. The final chapter reflects on the successes, failures, lessons, and thoughts following the performance run with regard to my intended outcome for the play. In adherence to departmental guidelines the names of all undergraduate student artists involved in the creative process have been omitted from the document and are instead referred to by their title within the production, i.e., lighting designer, stage manager, etc. ii Preface This thesis is original, unpublished, independent work by the author, Constantine X. Anastasakis. iii Acknowledgements I am infinitely grateful to and inspired by the undergraduate artists that brought their boundless imaginations, unwavering commitment, uplifting positivity, and unconditional trust to undertaking such a radical departure from convention: Jaden Sullivan, Oderin Tobin, Nicole Rathgeber, Mackenzie MacDonald, Elizabet Rajchel, Autumn Sali, Ethan Ross, Tyrone Copping, Donna Ng, Cindy Ansah, and Hannah Isbister. Thank you for breathing life into these archetypes and for animating this strange new world with your quirks and eccentricities. To our choreographer, for her emboldening leadership and effortless grace; to our assistant director, for being the eyes in the back of my head; to our stage manager, without whom we would have surely been lost; to our set and props designer, Scott Reid, for saying ‘yes’ far more often than ‘no’; to our costume designer, Jennifer Lee Arsenault, for building each one of the rhinoceros masks by hand; to our sound designer, Luke Dahlgren, for cutting the Zorba theme from the pre-show; and to our lighting designer, for her deeply refreshing ambition and iron-clad integrity. Thank you all for fortifying against the tempests and weathering the droughts. I am indebted to my supervisor, Christine Brubaker, for encouraging me to be irreverent and uncompromising in my artistic pursuits; and, to my co-supervisor, Valerie Campbell, for taking a chance on me a year earlier, and for putting the fire under my ass to pursue grad school. Your coaching, guidance, and compassion over the last two years have made all the difference. Thank you to Mike Czuba for converting me into a ‘precisionist’; to Jennifer Brewin for introducing us to the basics of clowning; to Alyssa Bradac for teaching me to “be brave, [and] show up”; and to Zachary McKendrick for talking me off the ledge many, many times. And to my wife, Niah, for being equal parts sounding-board, editor, therapist, collaborator, and best friend through the last two years; I could not have done this without you. iv Dedication For my grandmother, Carol Xionis, Who instilled in me my appetite for irreverent storytelling. And For Jim Senft, Who rekindled my passion for theatre, introduced me to directing, and taught me the importance of a unified ensemble. Dare Est Recipere. v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ ii Preface ............................................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... iv Dedication ........................................................................................................................................ v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ vi List of Figures and Illustrations ..................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................1 CHAPTER TWO: (RE)IMAGINING IONESCO ...............................................................9 Discerning the Director’s Role ...................................................................................9 Eugène Ionesco, the Playwright ...............................................................................15 (Re)Defining Absurdism ..........................................................................................19 Challenging the Accepted Interpretation of the Text ...............................................23 Ionesco’s Bérenger: Everyman, or Proxy? ...............................................................26 Peripheral Theatre and Woyzeck ...............................................................................32 Understanding Greece’s Economic Crisis ................................................................34 On Metamorphosis and Allegory .............................................................................35 CHAPTER THREE: (RE)VISIONS ..................................................................................39 CHAPTER FOUR: (RE)DIRECTING RHINOCEROS .....................................................53 Collaborating with Designers ...................................................................................53 The Set and Props Design ........................................................................................54 The Costume Design ................................................................................................60 The Lighting Design .................................................................................................63 The Sound Design ....................................................................................................65 Mapping Out the Rehearsal Process .........................................................................69 Auditions and Callbacks ...........................................................................................71 Script Cuts and Table Work .....................................................................................74 Negotiating the Work of the Actor ...........................................................................75 Rehearsing in the University Theatre .......................................................................79 Choreographing the ‘Flocking’ and the ‘Rioting’ Sequences ..................................80 Integrating the Silent Chorus ....................................................................................84 Integrating Coaches ..................................................................................................85 Tech Week and ‘The Violence of Decision Making’ ...............................................89 CHAPTER FIVE: REFLECTION .....................................................................................92 Toppling the Dominos ..............................................................................................92 Final Thoughts ..........................................................................................................94 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................... 97 Works Consulted ............................................................................................................................ 98 Appendix ...................................................................................................................................... 105 vi List of Figures and