Review: A Breath-taking RHINOCEROS at American Repertory Theater

As the saying goes, with Eugène Ionesco’s “Rhinoceros” – at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge through September 27 – first you laugh, then you cry. And then you become immersed in all the emotions this breathtaking production of the 1959 play elicits today.

For many watching Ionesco’s sharply written look at the rise of fascism, when everyday citizens are subsumed into a repressive culture that renders them literal pachyderms, those emotions will feel ripped from the headlines. While the play is often cited as a premier example of Theatre of the Absurd, it also seems alarmingly prescient in our current national political climate.

The action opens in a quaint town in France where the residents are suddenly transformed into rhinoceroses. Berenger (John Turturro), a clerk who imbibes with abandon and, except for his one friend, the garrulous Jean (Paul Giamatti), is socially isolated and can’t grasp why his co-workers put up no fight and instead willingly become rhinos. Ionesco (1909–1994) divided his life between Romania, where he was born, and France, where he lived in the years leading to World War II. Watching onetime friends freely embrace fascism as their country collaborated with Nazi Germany under the Vichy regime had a lasting impact on the writer.

After early runs in France and Germany, a 1960 production of “Rhinoceros” – translated into English by Derek Prouse – starring Laurence Olivier and his wife Joan Plowright, and directed by Orson Welles, opened in London. The play’s original 1961 Broadway mounting opened at the Longacre Theatre, with Zero Mostel as Jean, Eli Wallach as Berenger, and his wife and frequent acting partner Anne Jackson as Daisy. The setting was moved to urban America in a 1973 film version, again starring Mostel as John (Jean in the original text) but this time with Gene Wilder as Stanley (Berenger) and Karen Black as Daisy.

At the Loeb, in a new adaptation – blending the Prouse translation with new translations of the original French text – under the perfectly paced direction of Diane Paulus, the riveting first act, now set cleverly in a law office, tracks the metamorphosis of the townsfolk to full snort. From there, the plot moves to Jean’s apartment where a worried Berenger watches his only friend become a rip-roaring rhinoceros. Giamatti dominates this scene like few actors could in a simply astonishing masterwork that will live long in the minds of audiences fortunate enough to experience it.

The second act is built on Berenger, who represents Ionesco and the way he recoiled from hardliner fascists and extremist ideologies throughout his life. With his familiar tics, Turturro is fascinating to watch here, as always, as the only character in the piece aware of what’s going on and willing to question it. And while Tatiana Maslany as Berenger’s amour Daisy, the play’s third lead, has less to do, she does it all well, conveying every paradox in her character.

The uniformly excellent cast also includes Harriett D. Foy as the Housewife, Peter Francis James as the Grocer and Papillon, Alex Ross as Dudard, Clay Singer as Botard and the Waiter, and Kristine Nielsen as the Grocer’s Wife and Mrs. Boeuf.

Also adding to the production are an exemplary design team including scenic designer Riccardo Hernández, Tom Watson on hair and wigs, and make-up designer Kyle Krueger. Particularly noteworthy are Markus Maurette’s special effects, Jen Schriever’s lighting, and Fitz Patton’s sound design which, with great flourish, add a realism that makes the rushing of the rhinoceros – complete with kicked-up dust – feel like the running of the bulls at Pamplona. The charging rhinos are unseen, of course, but you may still find yourself backing up to let them pass.

With “Rhinoceros,” Paulus – the Tony Award-winning A.R.T. artistic director who staged her first Loeb Drama Center show in 1987 while a Harvard undergraduate – has chosen an appropriately excellent final production to helm at the Loeb before she and the company move to their new home in Allston at the David E. and Stacey L. Goel Center for Creativity and Performance in 2027.

Until then, if you need a dose of Paulus, make your way to Harvard Square for this not-to-be-missed production.

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