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Trivia

In a meta-theatrical twist, the play contains an ironic self-reference:

JEAN: [to BERENGER] Instead of squandering all your spare money on drink, isn't it better to buy a ticket for an interesting play? Do you know anything about the avant-garde theatre there's so much talk about? Have you seen Ionesco's plays?
BERENGER: [to JEAN] Unfortunately, no. I've only heard people talk about them. (...)
JEAN: [to BERENGER] There's one playing now. [both JEAN and BERINGER turn to face the audience and stare, breaking the fourth wall] Take advantage of it.

Rhinoceros and other plays. Ionesco, tr. Derek Prouse. Grove Press, Inc., New York (1960).

Austin Pendleton's play, Orson's Shadow, which is based on an actual 1960 production of Rhinoceros in London, comically depicts how director Orson Welles and stars Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright had difficulty working together.