Absurdist drama explores group hysteria

Sligo’s Blue Raincoat Theatre Company, who have forged a reputation for staging drama of the absurd, return to The Town Hall Theatre from Monday to Wednesday next, February 27- 29 with their production of Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco.

In previous years, the company has adapted Flann O’Brien’s The Third Policeman and At Swim-Two-Birds and other works by Ionesco, The Chairs and The Bald Soprano. These have also played the Town Hall where they were warmly received.

This latest piece, Rhinoceros is among Ionesco’s seminal works. It concerns the citizens of a small town who – except for one tardy and disaffected drop-out – turn into a herd of rampaging rhinoceroses.

Berenger wonders if he can cling to the scraps of his humanity when the town Logician, the Grocer, the Humanist, the ubiquitous Old Lady and even his closest friend Jean, begin sprouting horns and turning a distasteful shade of grey.

A searing and bleakly funny study on the human nature, Rhinoceros is amongst the most striking and enduring commentaries on social frailty and group hysteria from the 20th century. Blue Raincoat won praise from the Irish Times for their production, which the paper’s critic described as an “outstanding example of absurdist theatre”.Booking at the Town Hall box office 091-569777 or online at www.tht.ie