Peepolykus (if you say it out loud it comes out as People Like Us) is a physical theatre comedy company that arrived on the scene back in the mid-1990s. But, despite winning itself a following, it has never really fulfilled its early promise, though this revival of Eugene Ionesco's 1959 absurdist comedy points one way for the future.
It is by no means a complete success - the company members need to develop the acting ability to match their physical theatre panache. But there is enough here of interest to suggest that, as many physical and visual theatre companies have done before them, Peepolykus would do well to explore text, and could apply its specialised skills to make old plays seem fresh.
In a small French town first one rhinoceros and then many are sighted roaming the streets. Most of the inhabitants seem unconcerned by this development, but when his best friend Jean is transformed into one of the beasts, lowly insurance clerk Berenger realises something is amiss, and urges the townsfolk to resist these bestial transformations. Other people, including his firm's flighty typist with whom he is in love, think he is mad.
Ionesco's play inevitably seems dated to an audience so saturated in the absurdist tradition, whether it is through Tom Stoppard and Caryl Churchill or mainstream TV. None the less, as a parable about how easily people are willing to embrace the extreme as normal (Ionesco had lived through the rise of National Socialism) the play works rather neatly, and Peepolykus leaven the message with some enjoyable clowning. What they need now are some acting lessons, a set design that isn't dowdy, and at least 20 minutes lopped off the running time. Then they will have a hit.
· Until October 19. Box office: 020-8741 2311.
