In Eugène Ionesco's story The Rhinoceroses, the world comes apart at the seams - quite suddenly and seemingly casually. A rhinoceros breaks through the routine of a street café and triggers a development that questions the foundations of social coexistence. What at first seems like an absurd anecdote turns out to be a haunting parable of followership, manipulation and the creeping normalization of the incomprehensible.

Two friends are sitting outside a café when suddenly a rhino runs past. Jean gives vent to his anger: "A rhino on the loose in the city! Doesn't that surprise you? That should be banned!" The other - an unnamed narrator, still woozy from an alcoholic excess - speculates where the animal could have come from: from a zoo? a circus? from swamps around the dust-dry settlement? It all seems unlikely.

A week later, they meet again - another rhino runs past. This time they have a heated discussion: is it the same animal or a different one? Does it have one horn or two? Does it come from Africa or Asia? But the central question remains unanswered: is this repeated appearance a mere coincidence - or a sign of profound changes?

Ionesco's story from 1957 - later adapted into a play by himself - is more relevant today than ever. It tells of creeping social shifts, the temptation to conform, the loss of resistance and the growing powerlessness in the face of a radicalizing environment. One rhino after another appears, leaving chaos in its wake: dead cats, trampled benches, destroyed staircases. And with each new animal, life in the city changes - until finally nothing is as it once was.
Premiere December 12, 2025