Discover what is being said about this revival of Eugène Ionesco’s play.
The Guardian: ** “It is a production that has all of Elerian’s signature intelligence and playful imagination but is ultimately a reminder of how tricky a play this is, and how form can so easily eclipse content.”
The Standard: **** “This will delight the willing and might even convert a few Rhinocerosceptics.”
All That Dazzles: *** “Elerian’s direction is what keeps Rhinoceros so captivating with a tongue-in-cheek approach that takes the strange and makes it fun with a great style and some inspired choices to replicate the rhinoceroses. This particularly comes to life with Elena Pena’s atmospheric sound design, requiring cast members to stand at the sides replicating noises, turning into foley artists as well as rhinoceroses.”
The Telegraph: *** “This 1959 absurdist play about crushing conformism should still be relevant, yet the Almeida’s revival lacks real punch.”
The Arts Desk: **** “Its central point is simple: conformity results in monstrous dictatorship. So how do you make this interesting for an audience today? Director and translator Omar Elerian rises to the challenge – and provides an excitingly wild new version of this classic political play.”
The Independent: **** “Following a shocking rhino rampage, the inhabitants of a French town finds themselves transformed into silver-skinned monsters.”
Time Out: **** “Elerian rightly trusts in the enduring satirical potency of Ionesco’s 66-year-old play. But he also trusts himself and his cast to give a 2025 audience a damn good time. Faithful without being dogmatic, the tone is kept light and mischievous until a chilling kamikaze ending deliberately breaks the easy-going tone and sends us out deeply unnerved.”
WhatsOnStage: *** “What makes it compelling, however, are performances that fully engage with the world they are creating. Alan Williams, Sophie Steer, John Biddle, Hayley Carmichael and Hunter reveal precise comic timing – and wild hair – in their many interventions as part of the ensemble. Lucas is charming as an eccentric Daisy – at one point breaking into a love song in Italian, presumably just because she can – making her ultimate concession to the general mood all the sadder. As Berenger’s best friend Jean, the sophisticate yin to his dishevelled yang, McGuire is wide-eyed and funny, his physical transformation into a rhinoceros – the only one we see – is beautifully achieved.”
London Theatre.co.uk: *** “Elerian’s translation brings out the humour in Ionesco’s original, too. Hayley Carmichael squeals and roars in fear as a villager stunned by the presence of a rhinoceros, who might have been her husband in another life. But even today, this play digs into society’s darkness and humanity’s weakness.”
Theatre Vibe: “At the interval I had found this production immense fun. I appreciated Joshua McGuire’s clowning, Paul Hunter’s brilliant narration and Solé Dirisu’s composure. This was simply the best interpretation I had seen of absurdism.”
Everything Theatre: **** “This is a hugely entertaining production, and the cast are clearly having fun as they bring the ever more outlandish events to life, with Dìrísù passionately conveying Berenger’s determination to maintain his individuality. There are a lot of surprises to be experienced as the audience is involved in both helping to present the story and consider its message of free will.”
Voicemag.uk: “Under Omar Elerian’s direction, Ionesco’s absurdist classic is given a strikingly relevant revival that interrogates conformism with theatrical mastery.”
The Reviews Hub: **** “Elerian takes as much licence as is needed to bring Ionesco’s preposterous pachyderm parable up to date and keeps his production fizzing with consistently inventive staging and impeccably timed ensemble playing. Yes, the translator/director succeeds in making this old play feel relevant to the modern world, but, far more importantly, he succeeds in making it fun.”
The Stage: ** “Omar Elerian’s take on Ionesco is sterile and irksomely arch.”
West End Best Friend: ** “The whole cast are impressive and are evidently enjoying being part of this farcical telling of the rhinoceritis epidemic but unfortunately, this adaptation lacks the weight needed to deliver the ever-pertinent anti-conformist messaging with any impact.”
Broadway World: ** “So yes, some directorial choices thrown at the wall do stick. With streamlining Ionesco and Elerian can waltz together in unison, rather than the latter darting off literally in his own direction.”
Rhinoceros continues to play at the Almeida Theatre until the 26th April.