Rhinoceros (play)
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Rhinoceros (French original title Rhinocéros) is a play by Eugène Ionesco, written in 1959. The play belongs to the school of drama known as the Theatre of the Absurd. Over the course of three acts, the inhabitants of a small, provincial French town turn into rhinoceroses; ultimately the only human who does not succumb to this mass metamorphosis is the central character, Bérenger, a flustered everyman figure who is often criticized throughout the play for his drinking and tardiness. The play is often read as a response to the sudden upsurge of Communism, Fascism and Nazism during the events preceding World War II, and explores the themes of conformity, culture, philosophy, and morality.
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[edit] Trivia
In a meta-theatrical twist, the play contains an ironic self-reference:
JEAN: [to BERENGER] Instead of squandering all your spare money on drink, isn't it better to buy a ticket for an interesting play? Do you know anything about the avant-garde theatre there's so much talk about? Have you seen Ionesco's plays?
BERENGER: [to JEAN] Unfortunately, no. I've only heard people talk about them. (...)
JEAN: [to BERENGER] There's one playing now. [both JEAN and BERINGER turn to face the audience and stare, breaking the fourth wall] Take advantage of it.
- Rhinoceros and other plays. Ionesco, tr. Derek Prouse. Grove Press, Inc., New York (1960).
Austin Pendleton's play, Orson's Shadow, which is based on an actual 1960 production of Rhinoceros in London, comically depicts how director Orson Welles and stars Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright had difficulty working together.
Often, in stage productions, the role of Mr. Papillion is played by a woman.
[edit] Adaptations
The play was adapted for a 1973 film (also called Rhinoceros) directed by Tom O'Horgan and starring Zero Mostel as John (Jean in the play), Gene Wilder as Stanley (Berenger) and Karen Black as Daisy.
The play was also adapted for a 1990 musical, titled Born Again at the Chichester Festival Theatre, by Peter Hall (theatre director), Julian Barry and composer Jason Carr. For this the setting was relocated to an American shopping mall.
The 2008 comedy horror film Zombie Strippers purports to be an adaptation of the play, but with zombies instead of rhinoceros.[1]
The play was modernized and moved to an Unnamed North American city in 2008 by the Acadia Theatre Company of Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada.
The play, under the name of Kargadan, has been adapted by the Iranian actor and director Farhad Ayeesh and has been on scene for approximately two months.
[edit] References
- ^ Rechtshaffen, Michael (2008-04-18). "Zombie Strippers". The Hollywood Reporter (Nielsen Business Media). http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=10983. Retrieved on 2008-07-02.
[edit] External links
- Rhinoceros: Thick-skinned Phenomenon
- Rhinoceros study guide
- Rhinoceros (film)
- Musical Version of Rhinoceros
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