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Friday, August 28, 2026
Harvard's American Repertory Theater puts on revival of Ionesco's 'Rhinoceros'
NPR: The American Repertory Theater at Harvard University premiers a revival of Eugène Ionesco's landmark play, "Rhinoceros." NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer talks to director Diane Paulus and actor John Turturro.
I found this article on A.R.T.’s current production of “Rhinoceros” interesting and thought-provoking, both in its discussion of how the production explores the play's themes and in the questions it raised for me in the design choices. The article made me dig deeper into the design team, which includes an abundance of talent: Jen Schriever as the lighting designer, Riccardo Hernández for scenic design, and stage management by Ryan Gohsman - between the three, their credits are deeply familiar to me, and I am excited to see further content from the production. I found (artistic) director Diane Paulus's comment on the political impact of the show to be interesting - while I am not familiar with the piece itself, it seems to be able to function as an extended metaphor of Rhinoceroes, which seems to be a captivating choice. Paulus, along with the narrator, made a resonating comment on how A.R.T. is located in an ultra-liberal location and whether the political impact will really “change” anyone. Concluding, this production promises to have a wide impact both artistically and politically - questioning whether individuals should follow the crowd or stick up for what is right. A poignant question in today's political climate.
I found this article - and the concept of Rhinoceros as a whole - to be fascinating. I really like the absurdist approach to real-world issues; in this case, using people turning into rhinos as a metaphor for something else, and leaving that “something else” entirely up to audience interpretation. I think that, because this is such an absurd concept - and absurd play as a whole - it forces audience members to think harder about the meaning behind it. The strangeness of the plot encourages viewers to focus more, and that increased focus leads to a deeper consideration of the plot as a whole. That consideration, thus, leads to audience members seeing patterns and drawing connections between the fictional plot and real-world events - climate change denial, political radicalization, the rise of corruption or authoritarian governments, or even just the human urge to blend in with the crowd. Despite the fact that it was written in 1959, Rhinoceros could be about any number of modern issues, and I really enjoyed getting to read about its current revival.
2 comments:
I found this article on A.R.T.’s current production of “Rhinoceros” interesting and thought-provoking, both in its discussion of how the production explores the play's themes and in the questions it raised for me in the design choices. The article made me dig deeper into the design team, which includes an abundance of talent: Jen Schriever as the lighting designer, Riccardo Hernández for scenic design, and stage management by Ryan Gohsman - between the three, their credits are deeply familiar to me, and I am excited to see further content from the production. I found (artistic) director Diane Paulus's comment on the political impact of the show to be interesting - while I am not familiar with the piece itself, it seems to be able to function as an extended metaphor of Rhinoceroes, which seems to be a captivating choice. Paulus, along with the narrator, made a resonating comment on how A.R.T. is located in an ultra-liberal location and whether the political impact will really “change” anyone. Concluding, this production promises to have a wide impact both artistically and politically - questioning whether individuals should follow the crowd or stick up for what is right. A poignant question in today's political climate.
I found this article - and the concept of Rhinoceros as a whole - to be fascinating. I really like the absurdist approach to real-world issues; in this case, using people turning into rhinos as a metaphor for something else, and leaving that “something else” entirely up to audience interpretation. I think that, because this is such an absurd concept - and absurd play as a whole - it forces audience members to think harder about the meaning behind it. The strangeness of the plot encourages viewers to focus more, and that increased focus leads to a deeper consideration of the plot as a whole. That consideration, thus, leads to audience members seeing patterns and drawing connections between the fictional plot and real-world events - climate change denial, political radicalization, the rise of corruption or authoritarian governments, or even just the human urge to blend in with the crowd. Despite the fact that it was written in 1959, Rhinoceros could be about any number of modern issues, and I really enjoyed getting to read about its current revival.
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