By Eugene Ionesco, in a new version by Zinnie Harris. Presented by Spinning Plates Co. Directed by Cassandra Fumi. fortyfivedownstairs theatre, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 31 October – 17 November 2024.
Spinning Plates Co. demonstrate exceptional inventiveness in this quirky and highly stylised production. It maintains all the political spirit of Ionesco’s text while carefully and effectively infusing it with the absurdist and bizarre qualities that characterise his work. The attention to detail in the characterisations, the staging and especially the costuming is truly impressive. The inhabitants of this fictional town are subject to an invasion by rhinoceros, slowly but surely transforming them, one by one, into the beasts.