by Eugene Ionesco
October 24 – November 24, 2024
Thursdays - 7 pm, Saturdays 3 pm & 7 pm, Sundays 7 pm
"Who can say where the normal stops and the abnormal begins?"
Set in a small French village, a bizarre crisis unfolds: the citizens are gradually transforming into rhinoceroses. It starts innocuously—a bump on the forehead, a hoarse voice—until entire groups are consumed by their new, inhuman forms. As the epidemic of conformity spreads, will anyone resist and refuse to surrender their individuality in the face of mass hysteria?
Theatre Y’s interpretation of Rhinoceros explores the politics of fear and personal responsibility at a moment when our social fabric is defined by apocalyptic discourse and extreme cynicism. With an historic election looming and the future of democracy in question, Rhinoceros is more relevant than ever, serving as an enduring examination of unchecked groupthink and the allure of ideological certainty.
Theatre Y brings this timely parable to life with an intergenerational cast and a physical, imagistic staging that playfully mines the psychological dynamics of panic, self-doubt, and the normalization of the abnormal. With a set dressed by North Lawndale’s found-object visual artist Marvin Tate (and 10 young apprentices), we step into a dream world with logic of its own, and the game slowly grabs us by the collar.
At the heart of this production is a paradoxical irony: when we are convinced of our own rationality and righteousness, that is when we are perhaps the most susceptible to delusion. How do we simultaneously hold onto our convictions while embracing the ambiguities of self- doubt?
"An allegory for our times." - The New York Times
Directed by Theatre Y Co-Founding Artistic Director Melissa Lorraine, featuring Bide Akande as Berenger, together with Theatre Y Ensemble Members Terreon Collins, Tania Ramirez, Matt Fleming, Howard Raik, Arlene Arnone, Nadia Pillay, Roesha Townsel, Braniah Townsel, Jabari Ellis and understudy Lauren Valice.
Assistant direction and lighting by Makoto Yamaguchi (with lighting support from Henry Muller), costumes by Terreon Collins, sound design by Kimberly Sutton (with sound support from James Clayton Bowman), technical direction and carpentry by Steve Stoll (with set design by Marvin Tate and the Theatre Youth Apprentices), stage management by Emily Bynum, graphic design by Jimi Geiyer, production management by Emily Bragg, and technical support from E.R. Emison and Maxwell Gantner.
Performance Schedule:
October 24 – November 24, 2024
Showtimes: Thursdays - 7 pm, Saturdays 3 pm & 7 pm, Sundays 7 pm.
Location: Theatre Y - 3611 W Cermak Rd, Chicago, IL 60623
Ticket Information:
We welcome DONATIONS and MEMBERS!
All performances are FREE to the public thanks to members who donate as little as $5/month ($60/year).
About Theatre Y:
Theatre Y is a Chicago-based international incubator that creates connections between diverse artists seeking mutual growth through collaboration. Since 2006, Theatre Y has been a point of convergence for diverse activisms, and all of the uncomfortable conversations that happen as a result. Artistic director Melissa Lorraine and the Theatre Y ensemble are committed to continuously re-thinking the practice of theater as a tool of liberation and a revolutionary practice, bringing Theatre Y to venues ranging from La MaMa’s historical theater to Illinois prisons.Newly and permanently relocated to the West Side (on the border of North Lawndale and Little Village), Theatre Y, now in its 18th year of experimental productions, challenging international content, and a member-based FREE theater model, occupies a unique place in Chicago's theater community.
More about our history and mission.
Artistic Team:
Melissa Lorraine - Co-Director (she/her): Theatre Y Co-Founding Artistic Director - Born in France, graduating from Northern Illinois University with a B.F.A. in acting, Lorraine became a company member of Studio K in Budapest, Hungary. Co-founding Theatre Y with now deceased Director Christopher Markle. Premiered the English language version of Transylvanian writer András Visky’s JULIET with over two hundred performances worldwide. Starred in Visky’s I KILLED MY MOTHER, earning a Chicago’s Best Actress Orgie Award. Lauded by The Chicago Reader for turning even an “overwritten” and “implausible script” into “probing, harrowing, hallucinogenic truth,” for her Directorial work on VINCENT RIVER. In 2013 Lorraine directed the world premiere of THE BINDING, a collaboration between Theatre Y and two acclaimed Serbian/Hungarian choreographers, which was a cover feature of the Chicago Reader. Collaborating with Georges Bigot for one year (2015-16), Lorraine developed the Theatre Y Ensemble of 12 actors, according to the traditions of the Theatre du Soleil. She now leads this ensemble to discover a common language and a new way to work, searching for a way to make theater without the “dictator”. In 2018 she began to research Movement Therapy for Trauma Rehabilitation, and works with men serving life sentences at Stateville Correctional Center towards reinstating parole in Illinois.
Marvin Tate - Scenic Director: Tate is a Chicago native, born and raised on the city’s west side. His works have appeared and heard on stages internationally and locally, including National Public Radio’s, “This American Life”, Def -Jam Poetry and on the BBC Radio program “The Poetry Detective”. He has recorded and played with stage with the late, International Anthem Recording Artist, Jamie Branch’s: Jazz Drummer , Pitch-Fork Music Founder, and Band leader, Mike Reed, multi-instrumentalists, Ben LaMar Gay, Angel Bat Dawid, Bill Mckay, Leroy Bach and Visual Artists and performer, Theaster Gates Jr., Feminist-Artist , and legendary Porn Actress, Annie Sprinkle, Alabaster Deplume, Bitchin Bajas, Parliament/-Funkidellic, Circuit Des Yeux, Tim Kinsella and Angel Olsen. Lastly Tate is the founder of the legendary, experimental soul band, D-settlement. Their 3 vinyl box set (American Dream Records) was voted ‘The Best Of’ in Pitchfork, Band Camp and NY Times in 2022.
Makoto Yamaguchi - Assistant Direction and Lighting: Makoto Yamaguchi was born and grew up in Japan. He is a writer, director, and performer. He became interested in acting and took some minor roles in TVs and films in his native country. When he was in a touring theater troop, he was introduced to American method acting and decided to cross the ocean to learn theater art here. He attended the City College of New York and immersed himself in all different kinds of artistic expressions as well as theater. He has become interested in the physical theater of Jerzy Grotowski and primitive tribal rituals and has been developing a new form of performance called, “Jazz Theater”. He recently performed a solo piece called, Hamlet in Jazz, in the Elgin Fringe Festival and often presents his experimentation at the Friday Night Swerve in Theatre Y. He is very grateful to be able to work with all the people in this wonderful Chicago theater and hopes to continue working there.
Terreon Collins - Costume Designer: Terreon Collins is a multi faceted artist who continues to grow, not only his resume, but his skill set. Since his Chicago debut in the 2023 Jeff Nominated production of We Are Proud to Present…, he has worked on and been featured in an array of projects from puppeteering in three iterations of Little Carl, mentoring and costuming in The Wiz Walk, to now taking on his very first leading role in the upcoming production of Ionesco’s Rhinoceros.
Kimberly A. Sutton - Sound Designer: Kimberly is a sound artist, cellist, and sound designer living in Chicago, Illinois. Her installations and sound design work explore the connections between the physical properties of sound and the cultural signifiers of its content. As a cellist her practice is improvisatory and explores the possibilities of expression and reflection through sound and the immediacy of a meditational connection to her instrument. Recent installations have been shown at ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the Chicago Home Theater Festival. She has performed at Experimental Sound Studio, the Hideout and the Empty Bottle in Chicago, Yoshi’s in Oakland, Detroit Contemporary, and the Technosonics Festival at the University of Virginia. She has a BA in Political Science and Music from the University of Chicago and an MFA in Electronic Music and Recorded Media from Mills College.
Steve Stoll - Technical Director and Carpenter: Steven Stoll is a west side Chicago based set designer, woodworker, and musician. Drawing on his studies in sculpture and sound art at SAIC, he has spent the last 16 years creating all types of imagined environments around Chicago and across the country.
Rhinoceros is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
For press inquiries, interviews, or more information, please contact:
Melissa Lorraine: 773-908-2248 / [email protected]
www.theatre-y.com
