- 162 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Rhinoceros and Other Plays
About this book
"With outrageous comedy" this classic of Absurdist drama "attacks the most serious subjects: blind conformity and totalitarianism, despair and death" (
The New York Times).
In Rhinoceros, as in his other plays, Eugene Ionesco startles audiences with a world that invariably erupts in explosive laughter and nightmare anxiety. A rhinoceros suddenly appears in a small town, tramping through its peaceful streets. Soon there are two, then three, until the "movement" is universal. This is not an invasion of wild animals, but a transformation of average citizens into beasts, as they learn to move with the times. As the curtain comes down, only one desperate man remains.
Rhinoceros is a commentary on the absurdity of the human condition made tolerable only by self-delusion. It shows us the struggle of the individual to maintain integrity and identity in a world where all others have succumbed to the "beauty" of brute force and mindlessness.
In Rhinoceros, as in his other plays, Eugene Ionesco startles audiences with a world that invariably erupts in explosive laughter and nightmare anxiety. A rhinoceros suddenly appears in a small town, tramping through its peaceful streets. Soon there are two, then three, until the "movement" is universal. This is not an invasion of wild animals, but a transformation of average citizens into beasts, as they learn to move with the times. As the curtain comes down, only one desperate man remains.
Rhinoceros is a commentary on the absurdity of the human condition made tolerable only by self-delusion. It shows us the struggle of the individual to maintain integrity and identity in a world where all others have succumbed to the "beauty" of brute force and mindlessness.
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Yes, you can access Rhinoceros and Other Plays by Eugène Ionesco in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & European Drama. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
RHINOCEROS
Main Cast List for the first Paris Production
| BERENGER | Jean-Louis Barrault |
| JEAN | William Sabatier |
| DAISY | Simone Valère |
| DUDARD | Gabriel Cattand |
| THE LOGICIAN | Jean Parédès |
| THE WAITRESS | Jane Martel |
| THE HOUSEWIFE | Marie-Hélène Dasté |
| THE OLD GENTLEMAN | Robert Lombard |
| MRS. BOEUF | Simone Paris |
| MR. PAPILLON | Michel Bertay |
Main Cast List for the first London Production
| BERENGER | Laurence Olivier |
| JEAN | Duncan Macrae |
| DAISY | Joan Plowright |
| DUDARD | Alan Webb |
| THE LOGICIAN | Geoffrey Dunn |
| THE WAITRESS | Monica Evans |
| THE HOUSEWIFE | Hazel Hughes |
| THE OLD GENTLEMAN | Michael Bates |
| MRS. BOEUF | Gladys Henson |
| MR. PAPILLON | Miles Malleson |
RHINOCEROS
A Play in Three Acts and Four Scenes.
First produced in Paris by Jean-Louis Barrault at the Odéon, the 25th January, 1960.
First produced in London by Orson Welles at the Royal Court Theatre, the 28th April, 1960.
CHARACTERS
| Scene | ||||
| JEAN | 1st | 3rd | ||
| BERENGER | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
| THE WAITRESS | 1st | |||
| THE GROCER | 1st | |||
| THE GROCER’S WIFE | 1st | |||
| THE OLD GENTLEMAN | 1st | |||
| THE LOGICIAN | 1st | |||
| THE HOUSEWIFE | 1st | |||
| THE CAFÉ PROPRIETOR | 1st | |||
| DAISY | 1st | 2nd | 4th | |
| MR. PAPILLON | 2nd | |||
| DUDARD | 2nd | 4th | ||
| BOTARD | 2nd | |||
| MRS. BOEUF | 2nd | |||
| A FIREMAN | 2nd | |||
| THE LITTLE OLD MAN | 3rd | |||
| THE LITTLE OLD MAN’S WIFE | 3rd | |||
| And a lot of Rhinoceros heads | ||||
ACT ONE
The scene is a square in a small provincial town. Up-stage a house composed of a ground floor and one storey. The ground floor is the window of a grocer’s shop. The entrance is up two or three steps through a glass-patted door. The word EPICERIE is written in bold letters above the shop window. The two windows on the first floor are the living quarters of the grocer and his wife. The shop is up-stage, but slightly to the left, not far from the wings. In the distance a church steeple is visible above the grocer's house. Between the shop and the left of the stage there is a little street in perspective. To the right, slightly at an angle, is the front of a café. Above the café, one floor with a window; in front, the café terrace; several chairs and tables reach almost to centre stage. A dusty tree stands near the terrace chairs. Blue sky; harsh light; very white walls. The time is almost mid-day on a Sunday in summertime. JEAN and BERENGER will sit at one of the terrace tables.
[The sound of church bells is heard, which stop a few moments before the curtain rises. When the curtain rises, a woman carrying a basket of provisions under one arm and a cat under the other crosses the stage in silence from right to left. As she does so, the GROCER’S WIFE opens her shop door and watches her pass.]
GROCER’S WIFE: Oh that woman gets on my nerves! [To her husband who is in the shop:] Too stuck-up to buy from us nowadays. [The GROCER’S WIFE leaves; the stage is empty for a few moments.]
[JEAN enters right, at the same time as BERENGER enters left. JEAN is very fastidiously dressed: brown suit, red tie, stiff collar, brown hat. He has a reddish face. His shoes are yellow and well-polished. BERENGER is unshaven and hatless, with unkempt hair and creased clothes; everything about him indicates negligence. He seems weary, half-asleep; from time t...
Table of contents
- Cover
- Works by Eugène Ionesco
- Half Title
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- Rhinoceros
- The Leader
- The Future is in Eggs or It Takes all Sorts to Make a World