Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù is impressive in Rhinoceros at Almeida Theatre

Certainly not a statement intended to provoke fall-about hilarity, but as the jaded villagers in Eugene Ionesco’s absurdist social satire Rhinoceros demonstrate through their blindsiding, the play’s message has lost none of its relevance.

In Omar Elerian’s revival the design concept evokes a science lab.

The cast of Eugene Onesco’s absurdist satire Rhinoceros. (Image: Marc Brenner) An expansive white-washed stage is peppered with blocks and gauze curtains are drawn back and forth as the exceptional ensemble, wearing lab coats and with their hair strewn into peaked, cartoonish configurations, present Ionesco’s parable of social conformism.

Two office friends, befuddled Beringer (Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù) and scolding Jean (Joshua McGuire) meet for their regular morning coffee in a provincial French village when a rhinoceros stampedes past, swiftly followed by another one.

Anoushka Lucas and Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù in Rhinoceros. (Image: Marc Brenner) Soon the whole village is in state of philosophical meltdown about the inconsequential detail of what this means. Are they one-horned or two-horned rhinos? Can applying the rigour of syllogistic reasoning help to clarify matters? Clearly not. 

Breaking the fourth wall is all the rage (director Jamie Lloyd is a fan, Ostermeier’s The Seagull, at the Barbican).

Here, Elerian, who also translates, embraces devices to showcase the artifice of theatre-making: announcing stage directions using microphones, live footage projections filmed by cameras concealed where snooping rhinoceroses are hiding, actors doubling up as foley artists and synching badly with performers.

There’s even a meta narrator (Paul Hunter) who guides the audience through a sequence of hand gestures in a foreshadowing of the grimly balletic collective metamorphosis scene.

And then there’s the kazoos given to audience members to join in as rhino accompaniment (it works, if overused) because, yes, we’re all suggestible to groupthink.

Contemporary references to Trump aren’t necessary. All this stylised game-playing adds mischief but it takes time (this production runs at 2 hours and 40 minutes) and there’s a lot of deconstruction to, well, deconstruct.

Plus, it flattens out the human exchanges between Beringer, Jean and kooky Daisy (Anoushka Lucas) Beringer’s office crush.

But performances are impressively dynamic. McGuire’s comic timing is enviable and his shape shifting to raging rhino genuinely alarming.

Dirisu brings a touching gravitas to the role and his resistance in the final scene is devastating.

Rhinoceros runs at The Almeida in Islington until April 26.