Middlebury College Theatre Department presents Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco

MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College Department of Theatre will present Martin Mooney’s adaptation of Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, directed by Jay Dunn. It is the first offering in a season dedicated to examining the stories we tell in order to survive.

Written by Eugene Ionesco as a thinly-veiled clap-back at the rise of fascism in Europe, this quasi-allegorical dark satire about a political pandemic stretches towards its bookend a century later as the rise of authoritarianism and post-fascism again rears its ugly head in our global political systems.

An outbreak of rhinoceritis stampedes through Anytown, USA, quickly becoming a pandemic that turns its citizenry into a savage herd of “rhinoceri.” All of them, that is, except for Bérenger, who refuses to relinquish his humanity.

In this dire comic vision of civilization run amok, Ionesco depicts the struggle of the individual to maintain integrity and dignity alone in a world where all others have succumbed to the primal thrill of brute force and the mindlessness of the mob.

A play and playwright typically described as absurdist, Rhinoceros finds a new, terrifying resonance in our collective experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, where the story of an ideology defeated decades ago finds its historical rhyme in a contagious, deadly virus killing millions right now.

While once contemporary audiences could comfortably watch a comedy about other people in another time, Rhinoceros in 2022 reflects the horror of nature, and our own natures, clawing modern humanity back onto the food chain.

Rhinoceros will be performed on Thursday, October 27 through Saturday, October 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, October 29 at 2 p.m. in the Seeler Studio Theatre in the Mahaney Arts Center on the campus of Middlebury College.

The production is open to the public, and spectators must be vaccinated. Please join us for a post-show discussion following the Friday evening performance. The show runs approximately 100 minutes with one intermission.

Tickets are $15 for the general public; $10 for Middlebury College faculty, staff, alums, emeriti, and other ID card holders; $8 for youth (under 21); and $5 for Middlebury College students. For tickets or information, call (802) 443-6433 or go to https://middlebury.universitytickets.com/.

The Mahaney Arts Center is located at 72 Porter Field Road in Middlebury, just off Route 30 South. Free parking is available.