Rhynoceron
Created and Performed by KT Shivak
HERE Arts Center | 145 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY 10013
May 21st - May 25th
Photos by Richard Termine
Phantasmagoric splendor.
Over 500 years and several Pope Leo’s ago, Pope Leo X wanted a rhinoceros. There was only one in captivity - as magical as a unicorn. Pope Leo was a de’Medici, a family known for money, power and art. There would be four de’Medici popes, 2 Queens of France, and many dukes. If a de’Medici wanted a rhino, they could afford it. The ship carrying the rhinoceros would be wrecked at sea, but the rhino would live on in legend and art.
Nowhere does this rhinoceros live in art more vibrantly than in Rhynoceron. This is a legend come to life. The production is beautiful, moving, and positively electric. The live underscoring of the movement of the play is exquisite. There are stags, a stork, a dog and various versions of Ganda. The intricacies of the design performed with a simple grace make for a breath-taking 60 minutes.
You would be hard pressed to find a more staggering performance on any stage in this city this weekend. Watch with childlike wonder. Be amazed. Be impressed. Most importantly, be there. If you miss this NYC debut, you will be sorry. There is nothing else like it.
Click HERE for tickets.
HERE’s Dream Music Puppetry Program, under the artistic direction of Basil Twist, with producing direction from HERE co-founder Barbara Busackino, is one of few programs in the country to grow and commission contemporary adult puppet works, particularly works that feature live music as a collaborative element. Dream Music seeks to secure the future of puppetry by providing increased development and performance opportunities to puppet artists, and by collaborating with artists from other disciplines to develop new puppetry techniques. In addition, Dream Music brings to New York the most excellent of international puppetry, reflecting on Twist’s roots at the École Supérieure Nationale des Arts de la Marionnette in Charleville-Mezieres, France. Dream Music was inaugurated with the premiere of Basil Twist’s OBIE-award winning Symphonie Fantastique in 1998 and the opening of the Dorothy B. Williams Theatre, an intimate space created specifically for intimate puppetry. HERE’s Dream Music is also proud to house the Griff Williams Puppetry Collection. The 6 antique marionettes of Harry James, Griff Williams, Cab Calloway, Arturo Toscannini, Ted Lewis and Paul Whiteman were all performed with The Griff Williams Orchestra in the 1930s & 40s throughout America’s big band era. They have a permanent home outside the Dorothy B. Williams Theatre at HERE.
Puppetopia is made possible through the generous lead support of The Jim Henson Foundation and Cheryl Henson.
Review by Nicole Jesson.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on May 23rd, 2025. All rights reserved.