UNTIL SEPTEMBER 28: AFTER a hugely successful international tour, the award-winning production of Ionesco's masterpiece Rhinoceros makes a must-see visit to The Rondo Theatre in Bath prior to a major London run.

Combining their characteristic blend of riotous clowning, rapid-fire verbal slapstick and perfectly-timed physical comedy, Peepolykus is now making their first foray into text.

In Rhinoceros, the company applies its considerable comedy talents to take French author Eugene Ionesco's absurdist vision to the limits.

In a small French town, blissfully unaware of its own eccentricity, people suddenly become prone to rhinoceritis, the voluntary condition of turning into a rhinoceros. Nonsense and fantasy in equal measures create a startling and bizarre view of society.

Ionesco is acknowledged as one of the great figures of avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Written in 1959, Rhinoceros had a long gestation period, beginning with notes Ionesco made about life under the Nazis in 1940, writing graphically of how his friends were being drawn into Nazism, their skin 'hardening and thickening', no longer knowing how to talk, becoming fierce and horned, ready to charge.

The production is directed by Kate Beales and is performed by an impressive cast including Peepolykus founder members Javier Marzan, John Nicholson and David Sant.

For more information, see the Peepolykus website at www.peepolykus.com.

Catch the performance at The Rondo Theatre, Bath, until Saturday.

Call the box office for tickets on (01225) 463362.