by Eugène Ionesco
Directed by Edward Einhorn
Produced by David Einhorn
Part of the Ionesco Festival
Performances at The Connelly Theater, 220 E. 4th St
September 6 - September 29, 2001
Assistant Director: Russell Kaplan
Stage Managers: Ruth Lahti, Yanik Fernandez
Dramaturg: Karen Ott
Set Designer: Jennifer Collins
Assistant Set Designer: Judy L. Coburn
Costume Designer: Carla Gant
Lighting Designer: Matthew Gray
Sound: Tim Wright
Housewife: Meg Brooker
Jean: Peter Brown
Grocer's Wife/Mrs. Boeuf: Stacia French
Dudard/Logician: David Hilder
Botard/Old Gentleman: George McGrath
Daisy: Celia Montgomery
Berenger: Andrew Price
Waitress: Shelley Ray
Papillon/Grocer: Ken Simon
Untitled Theater Company #61 presents Ionesco tragic farce about conformity and pachyderms. This production highlights the theatricality of the piece while allowing the ominous comedy of the lines to simmer beneath. One of Ionesco’s most popular plays, this production is a highlight of the Ionesco Festival, the first ever complete festival of Ionesco’s work.
Berenger, the hero (or anti-hero), lives in a world that doesn’t make sense to him. So when people start turning into rhinoceroses, it is not a total surprise. What starts as a plague becomes socially desirable, and soon everyone from Berenger’s office colleagues to his closest friend succumb. Berenger continues on as one of the last humans, unwilling, and ultimately unable, to change. The play was written originally as a reaction to Nazism and political conformity, although its implications about the human condition are more broad ranging. The story is told in Ionesco’s typically absurdist style, full of existential musings and bizarre humor.