Exploring the Compelling Monstrosity of Rhinoceros
- JOE WOODWARD
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Eugene Ionesco created works from outside the boundaries of considered art and culture. The works were not didactic nor cool for their age. Yet go to Paris and you might still see productions of his work at Théâtre de la Huchette from the same original company that first presented the plays sixty-five or so years ago. Rhinoceros is possibly the most famous Ionesco work; while almost defining the notion of Theatre of the Absurd. However, it would be misguided to suggest Ionesco's theatre presented a universe completely devoid of meaning; a futile existence without any real substance ... a total absurdity!
Is the play Rhinoceros so meaningless as to be totally irrelevant for today? The answer can only be provided by the exploration of an actual production presented for actual audiences.
An Absurdity That Cuts with a Razer-Sharp Sword
We consistently read of the convergence of AI with algorithms in social media causing the spread of misinformation and having a polarising effect on societies. While discussions on such matters are necessary and possibly instructive, it was through the artform of theatre in the guise of Absurdism that light was thrown on the topic over sixty-five years ago. Ionesco's play Rhinoceros not only identified the terrifying effect of a social algorithm on ordinary people; it illustrated the naive complicity of a predisposition towards the thinking of the majority. Thus throwing into question the very notion of democracy and the dictatorship of the majority ideological fraternity. The professional elites of culture and societies might well be trusted as experts to inform and provide care and sustenance for populations. Logical semantics pervade with academic authority. Yet the artist may well show how semantics and the illusion of logic can provide academic persuasion for the most outrageous propositions and standpoints. A classic example is the work of psychiatrists as a moral community (I have a pdf of the article) under the NAZIs in the 1930s and 1940s and their pervasive influence even to today. The posits of academia may well visit the extremes of NAZI psychiatry even today The resultant blind acceptance of such posits in other forms presented in 2026 by students, professionals and governments may well in fact be one day deemed as repulsive as the NAZI medical professional. Yet today, as in all eras, cultural insanity is a given; whether from religion, science, ideology or laziness, there is still that tendency to deny thought and refuse investigation while all the time proclaiming certainty! Once upon a time there might have been an excuse ...
Ionesco now cuts through the crap with his phenomenological and metaphorical device of the monster in the room!
The Savage Intent Within that Sweet Beauty
I was rehearsing with two actors on reading the final act of Rhinoceros yesterday. We were struggling with various aspects of that final scene. The character of Daisy is seemingly a naïve, pleasant and attractive young woman who captures the heart of the central character who is struggling with the dynamics of his world. He fascinates over Daisy and is seemingly willing to start the world over with her. But something isn't quite right!
One thing emerged from the actress playing Daisy. Beneath the sweet exterior is a dynamic and even steely character; making her intentions and actions all the more disheartening and soul destroying while in her mind, she is totally right! Comical? Yes ... Savage? Also YES!
There are a number of full productions of Rhinoceros on You Tube. Most are funny and some with very clever Comedia del arte style humour. But apart from Robert Wilson's extraordinary production, the underpinning absurd savagery of naivete is missing; probably intentionally missing!
Algorithms, Brainwashing, Flotsam in a Swamp
Contemporary culture and society seems to be just as conforming and controlled as the medieval societies of a thousand years ago. While not dependant on the warlord for protection and information about the world, there are modern equivalents of contained and constrained limitations. From the left we see smug cancellation of identity as a weapon of control while from the right we see threatened police state and punitive physical controls. The individual is gravitated towards algorithmic determinants that predict personality and predispositions within the cultural and political spectrum. It is less likely that heaven and hell will be the guiding algorithm of one's straitjacket; unless one is a fundamentalist from the Muslim, Christian or a secular religious type from a Marxist world view! Lazy culture floats down the sludge of existence like flotsam from a swamp of ignorance! It encourages the shouting of bullshit from the pulpit of some sanctimonious cause while sounding like a person of significance; it gives credence to the legitimacy of the rhino from the periphery!
Ionesco cuts through all of this. While his play is essentially a comedy. The fun of seeing people turned into Rhinos is captivating and comical. Then as we see in the final act of Rhinoceros, real human connection is subverted by the subterfuge of a metaphorical brain virus that subtly undermines any possibility for human relations. More to the point, it manifests from the perspective of a highly intelligent and insightful character in the form of the female, Daisy.
Rhinoceros is a Challenge to Academia and Culture
There is no more significant work of theatre for 2026 than Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco. From where-ever you stand on the cultural, societal and political spectrum it is a challenge! It is fun! It is comic? It is devastating ... and Yes ... performed by students! But don't let that deter you ... Rhinoceros is the play for our time ...
Joe Woodward Theatre (Canberra) 18 - 25 April
Comments