Baltimore, MD- Rhinoceros, a play written in 1959 by Eugene Ionesco, was recently revived in a lively production at Loyola University Maryland under the direction of Dr. Natka Bianchini.
Belonging to the school of drama known as the Theatre of the Absurd, the play is focused on a small town in France where the inhabitants have suddenly begun to transform into the beasts implied in the play’s title.
While serving as an allegory to the permeation of Nazism, Fascism, and Communism in the early 20th century, the script swings from irreverent stampeding in the first act to emotional introspection in the third.
Katie Kudrick of 4Wall DC was the Lighting Designer for the show, and as such was tasked with finding the best way to invoke the changing moods of the play. Both Director and LD decided the best way to do this was via the use of bold color choices.
“Since the set is black and white, I didn’t want to overwhelm the eye with saturated color washes on the scenery, and I also didn’t want to take away from the bright costumes, so I directed my color choices to the cyc,” said Kudrick.
Supplying those bold colors were Chroma-Q Color Force 72 LED battens.
“Not only did the Color Force LEDs provide rich and beautiful colors for the show, they were also an affordable solution on a tight budget, as a small number of units could cover the height of our 20’ tall cyc.”
Control for the show was provided by an ETC Ion Console.
“The Ion is a great console to use in a university setting,” said Kudrick, “it allowed easy programming of the LEDs along with Loyola’s own conventional fixtures and scrollers.”
For more information on 4Wall DC, visit www.4wall.com/Washington-DC