Rhinoceros

You’d probably have to go back to 2007 to for the last major London production of Eugene Ionesco's classic aburdist satire Rhinoceros (it was at the Royal Court and starred Benedict Cumberbatch, fact fans). So it’s high time for another. Leftfield director Omar Elerian was last seen at the Almeida directing Ionesco’s The Chairs, and now he tackles what is possibly the Romanian dramatist’s most famous play. Rhinoceros is a satire on social conformity which concerns Berenger, a regular guy who meets his pal Jean for a drink in their small French town and is disconcerted when a rhino comes running past. Soon it becomes apparent that the townsfolk are transforming into the creatures. Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù will star as Berenger in Elerian’s new adaptation, alongside John Biddle, Hayley Carmichael, Paul Hunter, Anoushka Lucas, Joshua McGuire, Sophie Steer and Alan Williams.