The play grapples with the rapid onset of a new movement, and can easily be contextualized to modern settings just by substituting the word ‘rhinoceros’ for any movement or fad. If it doesn’t hit you that you’ve had an argument about something equally as meaningless as whether you saw the same rhino go by twice or two different rhinos go by once each, then perhaps you flatter yourself that your conversations are that important. The entire affair throws the frivolity of everyday conversation into embarrassingly sharp relief. In fact, aside from the transformations into rhinos, the majority of the play involves arguments or misunderstandings. Throwing realism out the window, the play embraces a fantastical situation while exploring themes of identity and generally just being silly.

The author Ionesco’s work is generally recognized as Absurdist, in a similar vein as Samuel Beckett, author of “Waiting for Godot.” So perhaps it comes as less of a surprise that, in the course of “Rhinoceros,” all of the characters (except the lead) turn into rhinoceroses. However, this only made the show particularly singular, with a small house, a runway-style stage and a picturesque window to outside. The Barn, a studio lurking behind the Anteater Recreation Center, is an uncommon performance space, likely owing to its isolation from the rest of the campus.

Written by Eugene Ionesco and performed in UC Irvine’s secluded Grotowski Barn, “Rhinoceros” confused, amused, and rampaged in its own right. If one thing can be said about “Rhinoceros,” it’s that the show is not what you’d expect. NIKKI JEE | Staff PhotographerTaylor Jackson Ross and Will Cranmer are just two of a mötley crüe of actors who slowly turned into rhinoceroses this past weekend.

Rhinoceros beckett