An adaptation of an iconic Romanian absurdist play dissects the subject of herd mentality
Vivaan Parashar and (right) Himanshu Taneja in a scene from Rhinoceros
Look around you. Read the papers. Watch the news on television. Listen in to conversations in places like local trains, and it will become clear to you that there is a growing sense of herd mentality brewing in society today. This isn't restricted only to the binaries that the ruling dispensation and the main opposition party are trying to propagate in this country. It's something that's evident everywhere from America to even a largely peaceful nation like New Zealand, as was the case recently. And what this does is make a minority out of free thinkers who hold on to their individuality like how a Cheteshwar Pujara holds on to his wicket. "You are either with us or against us" — that seems to be the prevailing notion of the day.
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Now, an iconic play later this week will highlight the follies of such an ideology. When the Romanian playwright Eugene Ionesco had written Rhinoceros in 1959, he'd addressed those countrymen of his who had been enticed en masse by the Nazi movement. But Gagan Dev Riar, who's adapted the play into a Hinglish script, says that a lot of the issues that Ionesco had touched upon are relevant even today. "[Rhinoceros is applicable to] what's happening in the name of patriotism, or even the madness of the media, especially social media where one thing starts and everybody starts following it," he tells us, adding, "The play talks about how one can save his or her individuality at a time when everybody feels the need to be part of some herd mentality."
The absurdist plot revolves around a town where all the locals start turning into rhinoceroses. The only person who doesn't is a character called Berenger, who fails to follow the mob simply because he is a drunkard who can't make sense of life. Eventually, though, he too tries his best to turn into a rhinoceros because he feels, "What use is it to know a language that no one else understands?" But he fails. So, he is left standing alone in a town full of people who have metamorphosed into horned animals. Which begs the question — is that the future that we, too, envision for ourselves?
On March 28 and 29, 6 pm At Prithvi Theatre, Juhu Church Road, Juhu.
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Cost Rs 300
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