Theatre – On the horn of a dilemma – Rhino’s Return to Lyceum
There is something strange in the neighbourhood, again – and this is what The Edinburgh Reporter had to say about this fearfully prescient, contemporary absurdist nightmare at last year’s IET premier –
‘This machete head-massage of imploding incredulity beggars the question – Who is in charge, who makes and breaks the rules, whom, the foolish leaders or the following fools? A compelling, premier tour d`farce. Nothing is more absurd than believing that nothing ever happens to you. Until that is, you discover you are not quite yourself today. Maddeningly compulsive – brings new meaning to the concept of asylum seeking.’
Returning to The Lyceum stage from 23 March – 7 April 2018, following a critically acclaimed Edinburgh International Festival run, Rhino is a unique collaboration between The Lyceum, Edinburgh International Festival, and Dot Theatre, Istanbul, and directed by celebrated founder of DOT Theatre, Murat Daltaban.
Originally written by Romanian-French playwright Eugène Ionesco, one of the foremost figures of the French Avant-garde theatre, the Turkish/Scottish production is a new version penned by Scottish playwright Zinnie Harris.
Inspired by Ionesco’s experiences of the Second World War, Rhinoceros, first performed in 1960, aimed to explore the mentality of those who so easily succumbed to fascism, demonstrating how anyone can fall victim to collective, unconscious thought by allowing their wills to be manipulated by others