Rhinoceros at Gene Frankel Theatre

A new revival of Rhinoceros by Eugène Ionesco brings one of the 20th century’s most provocative and darkly comic masterpieces back to the stage. This striking production directed by Rebecca Frank, reexamines Ionesco’s timeless exploration of conformity, mass hysteria, and moral courage in a world that feels increasingly familiar. Starring Max Arnaud, Celeste Moratti, Ashley Escoffery, Christina J Swanson, Aram Hekinian, Ayk Hekinian, James Campbell, Scott Renteria, Gini Chang and Naomi Langford. 

This revival underscores the play’s chilling relevance in today’s cultural and political climate. First premiered in 1959, Rhinoceros remains a landmark of the Theatre of the Absurd. The story unfolds in a small town where citizens mysteriously transform into rhinoceroses one by one. As society succumbs to this bewildering epidemic, one ordinary man stands alone, wrestling with the pressure to conform. Rhinoceros challenges audiences to confront a central question: What does it take to remain human when everyone else chooses to surrender?