Rhinoceros and Other Plays

By Eugène Ionesco

“With outrageous comedy” this classic of Absurdist drama “attacks the most serious subjects: blind conformity and totalitarianism, despair and death” (The New York Times).

In Rhinoceros, as in his other plays, Eugene Ionesco startles audiences with a world that invariably erupts in explosive laughter and nightmare anxiety. A rhinoceros suddenly appears in a small town, tramping through its peaceful streets. Soon there are two, then three, until the “movement” is universal. This is not an invasion of wild animals, but a transformation of average citizens into beasts, as they learn to move with the times. As the curtain comes down, only one desperate man remains.

Rhinoceros is a commentary on the absurdity of the human condition made tolerable only by self-delusion. It shows us the struggle of the individual to maintain integrity and identity in a world where all others have succumbed to the “beauty” of brute force and mindlessness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9780802190758

Book preview

WORKS BY EUGÈNE IONESCO

PUBLISHED BY GROVE PRESS

Exit the King, The Killer, and Macbett

The Bald Soprano and Other Plays

(The Lesson; The Chairs; Jack, or The Submission)

Rhinoceros and Other Plays (The Leader;

The Future Is in Eggs or It Takes All Sorts to Make a World)

Three Plays (Amédée; The New Tenant; Victims of Duty)

RHINOCEROS

AND OTHER PLAYS

RHINOCEROS

AND OTHER PLAYS

BY EUGÈNE IONESCO

Translated by Derek Prouse

Copyright © 1960 by John Calder (Publishers) Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Scanning, uploading, and electronic distribution of this book or the facilitation of such without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated. Any member of educational institutions wishing to photocopy part or all of the work for classroom use, or anthology, should send inquiries to Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 154 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10011 or [e-mail].

CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that these plays are subject to a royalty. They are fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and all British Commonwealth countries, and all countries covered by the International Copyright Union, the Pan-American Copyright Convention, and the Universal Copyright Convention. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound taping, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproduction, such as information storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and rights of translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved.

First-class professional applications for permission to perform them, and those other rights stated above, for all plays in this volume, must be made in advance to Georges Borchardt, 136 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10022.

Stock and amateur applications to perform them, and those other rights stated above, for must be made in advance, before rehearsals begin, with Samuel French, Inc., 45 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10010.

Published simultaneously in Canada

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 60-11090

ISBN 978-0-8021-3098-3

eISBN 9780802190758

Grove Press

an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

154 West 14th Street

New York, NY 10011

Distributed by Publishers Group West

www.groveatlantic.com

15 16 17 18 67 66 65 64

CONTENTS

RHINOCEROS

THE LEADER

THE FUTURE IS IN EGGS or IT TAKES ALL SORTS TO MAKE A WORLD

RHINOCEROS

Main Cast List for the first Paris Production

Main Cast List for the first London Production

RHINOCEROS

A Play in Three Acts and Four Scenes.

First produced in Paris by Jean-Louis Barrault at the Odéon, the 25th January, 1960.

First produced in London by Orson Welles at the Royal Court Theatre, the 28th April, 1960.

CHARACTERS

ACT ONE

The scene is a square in a small provincial town. Up-stage a house composed of a ground floor and one storey. The ground floor is the window of a grocer’s shop. The entrance is up two or three steps through a glass-patted door. The word EPICERIE is written in bold letters above the shop window. The two windows on the first floor are the living quarters of the grocer and his wife. The shop is up-stage, but slightly to the left, not far from the wings. In the distance a church steeple is visible above the grocer's house. Between the shop and the left of the stage there is a little street in perspective. To the right, slightly at an angle, is the front of a café. Above the café, one floor with a window; in front, the café terrace; several chairs and tables reach almost to centre stage. A dusty tree stands near the terrace chairs. Blue sky; harsh light; very white walls. The time is almost mid-day on a Sunday in summertime. JEAN and BERENGER will sit at one of the terrace tables.

[The sound of church bells is heard, which stop a few moments before the curtain rises. When the curtain rises, a woman carrying a basket of provisions under one arm and a cat under the other crosses the stage in silence from right to left. As she does so, the GROCER’S WIFE opens her shop door and watches her pass.]

GROCER’S WIFE: Oh that woman gets on my nerves! [To her husband who is in the shop:] Too stuck-up to buy from us nowadays. [The GROCER’S WIFE leaves; the stage is empty for a few moments.]

[JEAN enters right, at the same time as BERENGER enters left. JEAN is very fastidiously dressed: brown suit, red tie, stiff collar, brown hat. He has a reddish face. His shoes are yellow and well-polished. BERENGER is unshaven and hatless, with unkempt hair and creased clothes; everything about him indicates negligence. He seems weary, half-asleep; from time to time he yawns.]

JEAN: [advancing from right] Oh, so you managed to get here at last, Berenger!

BERENGER: [advancing from left] Morning, Jean!

JEAN: Late as usual, of course. [He looks at his wrist watch.] Our appointment was for 11.30. And now it's practically midday.

BERENGER: I'm sorry. Have you been waiting long?

JEAN: No, I've only just arrived myself, as you saw.

[They go and sit at one of the tables on the café terrace.]

BERENGER: In that case I don't feel so bad, if you've only just...

JEAN: It's different with me. I don't like waiting; I've no time to waste. And as you're never on time, I come late on purpose—at a time when I presume you'll be there.

BERENGER: You're right . . . quite right, but . . .

JEAN: Now don't try to pretend you're ever on time!

BERENGER: No, of course not . . . I wouldn't say that.

[JEAN and BERENGER have sat down.]

JEAN: There you are, you see!

BERENGER: What are you drinking?

JEAN: You mean to say you've got a thirst even at this time in the morning?

BERENGER: It's so hot and dry.

JEAN: The more you drink the thirstier you get, popular science tells us that...

BERENGER: It would be less dry, and we'd be less thirsty, if they'd invent us some scientific clouds in the sky.

JEAN: [studying BERENGER closely] That wouldn't help you any. You're not thirsty for water, Berenger ...

BERENGER: I don't understand what you mean.

JEAN: You know perfectly well what I mean. I'm talking about your parched throat. That's a territory that can't get enough!

BERENGER: To compare my throat to a piece of land seems,..

JEAN: [interrupting him] You're in a bad way, my friend.

BERENGER: In a bad way? You think so?

JEAN: I'm not blind, you know. You're dropping with fatigue. You've gone without your sleep again, you yawn all the time, you're dead-tired ...

BERENGER: There is something the matter with my hair...

JEAN: You reek of alcohol.

BERENGER: I have got a bit of a hang-over, it's true!

JEAN: It's the same every Sunday morning—not to mention the other days of the week.

BERENGER: Oh no, it's less frequent during the week, because of the office ...

JEAN: And what's happened to your tie? Lost it during your orgy, I suppose!

BERENGER: [putting his hand to his neck] You're right. That's funny! Whatever could I have done with it?

JEAN: [taking a tie out of his coat pocket] Here, put this one on.

BERENGER: Oh thank you, that is kind. [He puts on the tie.]

JEAN: [while BERENGER is unskilfully tying his tie] Your hair's all over the place.

[BERENGER runs his fingers through his hair.]

Here, here's a comb! [He takes a comb from his other pocket.]

BERENGER: [taking the comb] Thank you. [He vaguely combs his hair.]

JEAN: You haven't even shaved! Just take a look at yourself!

[He takes a mirror from his inside pocket, hands it to BERENGER, who looks at himself; as he does so, he examines his tongue.]

BERENGER: My tongue's all coated.

JEAN: [taking the mirror and putting it back in his pocket] I'm not surprised! [He takes back the comb as well, which BERENGER offers to him, and puts it in his pocket.] You're heading for cirrhosis, my friend.

BERENGER: [worried] Do you think so?

JEAN: [to BERENGER, who wants to give him back his tie] Keep the tie, I've got plenty more.

BERENGER: [admiringly] You always look so immaculate.

JEAN: [continuing his inspection of BERENGER] Your clothes are all crumpled, they're a disgrace! Your shirt is downright filthy, and your shoes... [BERENGER tries to hide his feet under the table.] Your shoes haven't been touched. What a mess you're in! And look at your shoulders...

BERENGER: What's the matter with my shoulders?

JEAN: Turn round! Come on, turn round! You've been leaning against some wall. [BERENGER holds his hand out docilely to JEAN.] No, I haven't got a brush with me; it would make my pockets bulge. [Still docile, BERENGER flicks his shoulders to get rid of the white dust; JEAN averts his head.] Heavens! Where did you get all that from?

BERENGER: I don't remember.

JEAN: It's a positive disgrace! I feel ashamed to be your friend.

BERENGER: You're very hard on me ...

JEAN: I've every reason to be.

BERENGER: Listen, Jean. There are so few distractions in this town—I get so bored. I'm not made for the work I'm doing ... every day at the office, eight hours a day—and only three weeks’ holiday a year! When Saturday night comes round I feel exhausted and so—you know how it is—just to relax …

JEAN: My dear man, everybody has to work. I spend eight hours a day in the office the same as everyone else. And I only get three weeks off a year, but even so you don't catch me... Will-power, my good man!

BERENGER: But everybody hasn't got as much will-power as you have. I can't get used to it. I just can't get used to life.

JEAN: Everybody has to get used to it. Or do you consider yourself some superior being?

BERENGER: I don't pretend to be ...

JEAN: [interrupting him] I'm just as good as you are; I think with all due modesty I may say I'm better. The superior man is the man who fulfils his duty.

BERENGER: What duty?

JEAN: His duty ... His duty as an employee, for example.

BERENGER: Oh yes, his duty as an employee ...

JEAN: Where did your debauch take place last night? If you can remember!

BERENGER: We were celebrating Auguste's birthday, our friend Auguste...

JEAN: Our friend Auguste?

Reviews for Rhinoceros and Other Plays

[borg6mx5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rhinocoeros is a very funny play. This slim volume provides the text of this, plus others.

[devil_llama · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When the master of the absurd writes, it is worth reading. The best work of the three is, of course, Rhinoceros, because it would be hard to top that piece, about people turning into rhinoceroses. The other two are short pieces, and the story and characters are not as well developed, but the title piece is a master stroke that shows the loneliness of individuality, the way that people fall in line behind the latest thing, and generates a lot of wonderful images that allow us to question our own desire to hold onto reality. In the end, with the threatened extinction of the white rhinoceros, one has to ask: would it be all that terrible if people started turning into rhinoceroses?

[cglanovsky · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lately I've been contemplating the meaning of "Magic Realism." I've seen it put that magic realism is "a polite way of saying you write fantasy." That's not quite so. All fiction requires invention of people, places and events that do not strictly exist. So all fiction requires a bit of fantasy. It's a matter of degree, and I believe "Magic Realism" is a necessary term for a middle ground. I'd say it's when the setting is meant to look very much like the world in which we all live and in which people act very much the way we all would, except that truly bizarre things take place and while the characters don't quite think it's normal their reaction falls far short of that which we would expect. It's when strangeness and absurdity is treated as though it were merely curious, inconvenient, or even mundane. Thus far I think "Rhinoceros" fits the mold. Another critical definition of the genre that carries a bit more weight is that Magic Realism is "fantasy written in Spanish". I do associate the genre very strongly with Latin America, it's true, but I think it's time that that association became more like my association of tragedy with Greece. Having been developed and defined by that place it has clearly burst those bonds and spread throughout the world (see Murakami, Rushdie, Grass, Saramago) and we should embrace that. Finally, however, perhaps I'm missing something very important: "Rhinoceros" is a play. A lack of knowledge of theater history may mean I fail to see the lineage of the play within a uniquely dramatic context. I could buy that: that the play does not require description according to novelistic terminology because it already has it's own more accurate and meaningful terminology. So let me just say that for the uninitiated reader of dramatic texts who, like me, enjoys a story incorporating the strange and surreal into an otherwise banal environment, this play offers precisely that. Funny, original, vaguely disturbing, evocative of potentially meaningful associations, Ionesco's play is worth a detour away from the novel form.