Rhinoceros (play)

Rhinoceros (original title Rhinocéros) is a play by Eugène Ionesco, written in the late 1950s. An example of the theatre of the absurd, the story concerns a town, the inhabitants of which turn into rhinoceroses. The central character, Béranger, a lazy drunkard, sees everyone around him turning into rhinoceroses. He ends up having to fight them all for the sake of mankind.

Related Topics:
Play - Eugène Ionesco - 1950s - Theatre of the absurd - Rhinoceros

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The play was initially written in French. All of the 17 characters, even secondary ones, have remarkably defined personalities.

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The play is often read as addressing the possibility (or not) of resisting the urge to conform, and would appear to be a response to the sudden upsurge of Fascism and Nazism that occurred two decades previously.

Related Topics:
Fascism - Nazism

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Ionesco later adapted his play into a screenplay for a 1973 film (also called Rhinoceros) directed by Tom O'Horgan and starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder.

Related Topics:
Screenplay - Tom O'Horgan - Zero Mostel - Gene Wilder

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