Rhinocéros

Rhinocéros is a absurdist political play by Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco (1909-1994) [1].

The original text

Originally written in French in 1959, the play belongs to the school of drama known as the Theatre of the Absurd[]. Over the course of three acts, the inhabitants of a small, provincial French town turn into rhinoceroses; ultimately the only human who does not succumb to this mass metamorphosis is the central character, Bérenger, a flustered everyman figure who is often criticized throughout the play for his drinking and tardiness. The play is often read as a response and criticism to the sudden upsurge of Communism, Fascism and Nazism during the events preceding World War II, and explores the themes of conformity, culture, mass movements, philosophy and morality. It is the second in Ionesco's Berenger Cycle, preceded by The Killer (1958) and followed by Exit the King (1962) and A Stroll in the Air (1963).

Translations and adaptations

Translated into English as Rhinoceros

Translated into Afrikaans from the French as Die Renosters by Bartho Smit. Published by HAUM-Literêr in the series Bartho Smit-vertalings in 1984, including Die Les and Die Koning Sterf in the same volume.

Performance history in South Africa

1963: Produced in English by Peter Kleinschmidt with students of UCT at the Little Theatre in 1963.

1963-4: Produced in Afrikaans by PACT, directed by Jannie Gildenhuys with Gildenhuys, Cobus Rossouw, Vicki Vosloo, Ernst Eloff, Phyllis Punt, Roelf Laubscher, Limpie Basson, Jan Bruijns, Leonora Nel, Francois Swart and Kita Redelinghuijs. Decor by Raimond Schoop and costumes designed by Joubero Malherbe.

1994: Die Renosters presented by the Stellenbosch University Drama Department in the H.B. Thom Theatre in May, directed by Waldemar Schultz, starring Paul du Toit, Francois Toerien, Anneke Hayward, Ewald Cress, Martelize Kolver, Anton van Eeden, Erik de Waal, Suzanne Smith, Gaerin Hauptfleisch, Franci Swanepoel, Marianne Stander, Lisl Wolmarans, Nico Dreyer, Amelda Brand, Cornelius Koopman, Nicole Holm, and Waldemar Schultz.

2011:Performed in the ATKV-Wynand Mouton-teater, as part of the Vryfees in Bloemfontein by Luwes Produksies. Directed by Nico Luwes with Johann Nel, André Stolz, Minette Grové, Dirk Gouws, Anna Visser, Alec Debbo, De Beer Cloete, Thys Heydenrych, Elandi Lamprecht, Pieter Venter, Charl Ochler, Jaco van der Merwe, Lizelle Delport, and Leandi de Klerk.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros_(play)

Rhinoceros theatre programme (Little Theatre 1963).

http://www.volksbladfees.co.za/program.aspx?date=2011-07-15

PACT report, 1963/64

H B Thom Theatre programme, 1994

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