Watch on the Rhino

Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros is brilliant—arguably the most accessible work in the often deliberately inaccessible genre known as Theater of the Absurd. What the equally brilllant new production at People’s Branch Theatre proves is that great plays transcend their time, and that this theater company has broken significant new ground where Nashville theater is concerned. Under Matt Chiorini’s direction, the cast is simply smashing, a talented and aware ensemble of seven (in 11 roles) offering performances that, from the get-go, constantly raise the stakes for each other. Not a single one fails to deliver. The result is unified performance art that commits to Chiorini’s playful reimagining of a 47-year-old classic and nails its serious themes—equality, tolerance, bigotry, individualism—with delicious subtlety, while never skimping on the sharp wit or the energy necessary to play things with courageous broadness. Deftly cited musical selections—Neil Diamond, cheesy rock and jazz, a quickly fiddled waltz, strummed live guitar, “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”—accompany most of the action. At certain moments, these threaten to get in the way of the dialogue, until it’s clear that the music has its own critical, and very acceptable, subtextual function. The dance number that opens Act Two, choreographed by Misty Lewis, is hilarious stuff: a goofy tableau of mirthful mugging and unlikely physicality, infused with the spirit of all that is lovably (and knowingly) cornball. In keeping with PBT style—no conventional sets—scaffolds and trash cans form the actors’ playground. Throughout this stylized backdrop, Chiorini moves his ever-adaptable players all over the stage and into the audience, with each moment aggressively paced and fraught with meaning. Theatergoers expecting the rhinoceros horns that have been the costume hallmark of this play won’t find them here. It’s just as well, since Ionesco’s words transcend even the potential hint of gimmickry. Finding the road less traveled has always been PBT’s mission. But if this is “alternative” theater, it’s certainly damn entertaining. Rhinocerosplays through Oct. 7 at the Belcourt.