‘Rhinoceros’ Takes Absurdity on a Ride

You might think that if you’ve seen one “Rhinoceros” you’ve seen the whole herd, but Odyssey Theatre artistic director Ron Sossi is out to prove otherwise with a fresh, accessible production of Ionesco’s absurdist classic.

That he succeeds so well is creditable in large part to remarkable performances from his two principals: Alan Blumenfield as the smug, fastidious Jean, and Sam Anderson as his slovenly, inebriated friend Berenger. They make a kind of existential “Odd Couple” amid the inexplicable mutation of bourgeois townsfolk into rhinoceroses.

Jean’s own transformation, the embodiment of civilized society succumbing to animal impulses as he reduces his pristine apartment into a wallowing mud pool, is worth the ticket price alone. Unfortunately, Berenger is left without him to hold the fort against the pesky pachyderms through the lengthy third act, and neither Barry Philips as his meek co-worker nor Kristen Lowman as his love interest match Blumenfield’s chemistry.

No staging can entirely tame Ionesco’s penchant for repetition to the point of tedium, but Sossi employs considerable slapstick--even an echo or two from Inspector Clouseau--to sugarcoat the playwright’s scathing vision of humanity until the ominously feverish finale. Though occasionally overreaching, it’s a comedic approach to which only the most die-hard “Rhinoceros” naturalists could object.

* “Rhinoceros,” Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. except Nov. 30 and Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. Ends Jan. 11. $18.50 to $22.50. (310) 477-2055. Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes.