Coming from the world of puppetry, Bérangère Vantusso directs a classic of the so-called 'theatre of the absurd' for the first time. Ionesco's 1959 play was a tragic-comic metaphor for the way minds had grown accustomed to the worst on the eve of World War Two. When rhinoceroses begin to rain down on a small town and inhabitants succumb to 'rhinoceritis', there is concern — but one can after all live quite well with two horns and green skin.
Only Béranger, an ordinary, vaguely alcoholic man — no hero at all — chooses not to conform. Subtly revisited by dramaturg Nicolas Doutey in light of today's pressing realities, the stage fills here with hundreds of white, menacing, manipulable cubes. Runtime: 1h30. Post-show meeting on 4 March.