Reg Rogers to Lead the Cast of RHINOCEROS at Yale Rep

Yale Repertory Theatre will present Rhinoceros, Eugene Ionesco’s tragicomic vision of the horrors of groupthink, March 6-28 at Yale Repertory Theatre. Liz Diamond, Chair of Directing at David Geffen School of Drama and Resident Director at Yale Repertory Theatre, stages Frank Galati’s full-throttle one-act adaptation of Derek Prouse’s translation, with choreography by Emily Coates.

On an ordinary Sunday in a small French town, Berenger and his friend Gene enjoy a drink on a café terrace. Suddenly a rhinoceros charges across the square, crushing everything in its path. A drunken dream… or…? As neighbors and friends begin sprouting hides and horns, the shy, shambolic Berenger must make a choice: stand against–or join–the rampaging herd. Rhinoceros is Ionesco’s tragicomic cri de coeur, imploring each of us to resist the call to fall in line.

In Diamond’s production, performers comprising the microcosm of the town reshape the scenery around Berenger as he stumbles through an increasingly disorienting world. Ionesco’s comic surrealism grows darker as the play moves propulsively in Galati’s shortened version  toward its stark conclusion. The play is performed without intermission.

An ensemble cast amplifies Ionesco’s comic and cautionary tale of the seductions of power and our willingness to surrender to it.

Tony Award nominee Reg Rogers (Yale Rep: An Enemy of the People; Broadway: Merrily We Roll Along, Tootsie, The Iceman Cometh) leads the cast as Berenger. The company also features Will Dagger (Broadway: Good Night, and Good Luck; Off-Broadway: Give Me Carmelita Tropicana, Corsicana) as Dudard, Jeremy A. Fuentes (David Geffen School of Drama: Les Liaisons Dangereuses) as Waiter, Nicole Michelle Haskins (Regional: The Color Purple; Hopelessly Devoted; Caroline, or Change) as Mrs. Boeuf, Richard Ruiz Henry (Yale Rep: Assassins; Off-Broadway: The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Drift, Streets of New York) as Botard, Dorottya Ilosvai (David Geffen School of Drama: Utopia, Three Sisters) as Townsperson, Tony Manna (Yale Rep: Cymbeline, These Paper Bullets!; Off-Broadway: Timon of Athens) as Papillon/Cafe Owner, Ameya Narkar (David Geffen School of Drama: Utopia, Three Sisters) as Townsperson, Elizabeth Stahlmann (Yale Rep: The Inspector; Broadway/Center Theater Group: Slave Play; Off-Broadway: Here There Are Blueberries) as Daisy, Phillip Taratula (Broadway: The Skin of Our Teeth; Off-Broadway: Ginger Twinsies, The Beastiary) as Gene, and Kimberly Vilbrun-François (David Geffen School of Drama: You Can Tell a Tree by its Fruit) as Colette. Understudies include Tessa Albertson (u/s Daisy, Townsperson), Walker Borba (u/s Berenger), Gabriel Cali (u/s Gene) Ashly Chalico (u/sMrs. Boeuf, Colette), Rasan Kuvly (u/s Dudard), John Maria Gutierrez (u/s Botard, Papillon/Cafe Owner), and Sboniso Thombeni (u/s Dudard, Waiter, Townsperson).

The creative team includes director Diamond, choreographer Coates, Jennifer Yuqing Cao 曹语晴 (Scenic Designer), Tricie Bergmann (Costume Designer), Donald Holder (Lighting Designer), Xi (Zoey) Lin 林曦   (Sound Designer), Ke Xu 许可 (Projection Designer), The Wig Associates (Hair, Wig, and Makeup Designers), Daria Kerschenbaum and Mia Van Deloo (Production Dramaturgs), Lilliana Gonzalez (Technical Director), Michael Rossmy (Fight and Intimacy Director), Grace Zandarski (Vocal and Dialect Coach), Jeremy A. Fuentes (Dance Captain), Calleri Jensen Davis (Casting Director), and Caileigh Potter (Stage Manager).