Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti to star in new production of "Rhinoceros" in Cambridge

The pressure to conform is front and center in American Repertory Theater's new production of "Rhinoceros" starring Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti and Emmy winner Tatiana Maslany. 

The premise of the play is absurd. One by one, a man's friends and colleagues transform into rhinoceroses.

Actor Clay Singer explained that premise prompts many questions.

"What does it mean to become a rhinoceros? What does it mean when a group of people all join in on one thing? And who's left behind?" Singer said.

"How much should we tolerate intolerance?" added actor Alex Ross. "Or should you tolerate intolerance?"

"Rhinoceros" has stayed with ART Artistic Director Diane Paulus since she first read the piece in her high school French class.

Then John Turturro reached out, saying he was thinking about doing the play.

Paulus told WBZ-TV, "It took me all of one second to say, 'Yeah, let's get together and start talking about this'."

Working in partnership with the estate of playwright Eugene Ionesco, they created this new adaptation.

Paulus said, "This play is like a door that opens and makes us laugh and recognize and see the condition we're living in with fresh eyes, through the comedy, through the absurdism."

Singer and Ross are thrilled to be working alongside Turturro, as well as Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti and Emmy winner Tatiana Maslany.

"Every day is an opportunity to learn from them," explained Singer. "They're constantly learning too, which also is like a really cool thing to see, because they're attacking it with just as much energy and there's no jadedness. It's just they are truly just trying to create"

Ross said, "They're just having the best time. They're having so much fun. Like, to watch them have fun is like the coolest thing in the world."

Paulus called it a "dream cast," saying, "I have never been in a room with such brilliant actors who are equally rigorous and thoughtful and specific while being completely and utterly playful and improvisatory and cracking each other up."

"Rhinoceros" marks a return to ART for Singer and Ross, who played Tybalt and Mercutio in the 2024 production of "Romeo and Juliet."

"I would do anything with those two, Alex and Clay," said Paulus. "They are so inventive, so up for anything, fearless as performers."

And Singer said, "Coming back now a second time… I feel like this is kind of like a home space. Walking through these streets in Cambridge, it just reminds us of like our fond memories a couple years ago."

You can see "Rhinoceros" at American Repertory Theater in Cambridge through September 27th.