Trailer: Rhinoceros at Pacific Resident Theatre

You may think Hollywood Gothique has gone mad. Why are we plugging Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, a play denouncing apathy in the face of impending fascism? Because underneath the artsy veneer, this is a horror story that plays out like a forerunner of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Night of the Living Dead. In a provincial town outside of Paris, the local population loses their humanity – figuratively and literally – when they begin mutating into rhinoceroses. By the end, with the lone human holed up in a house surrounded by his former friends, as he weighs the consequences of maintaining his individuality or joining the heard, the effect can by poignant – and terrifying.

Rhinoceros is currently at the Pacific Resident Theatre through November 19, with performances on Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 3pm (no performance on Sunday, November 5). The address is 703 Venice Boulevard, Venice 90291. The website is: pacificresidenttheatre.com.