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© Hubert Amiel

La reprise. Histoire(s) du théâtre (I) [2020]

Milo Rau

Delving into a sordid news item, Milo Rau, one of the most forceful directors in contemporary theatre, questions the very essence of theatre and its capacity to depict the unbearable.

Details

With his merciless reconstitutions of reality, Milo Rau has established a reputation as one of the most trenchant directors in contemporary theatre. His political and social plays, including this major work La reprise (The Repetition), cleverly interweave investigation, testimony and fiction while also questioning the very essence of theatre and its capacity to depict the unbearable.

A news item serves as the raw material for La reprise. Vast steelworks in Liege are rusting in the rain, a source now only of unemployment. Four out-of-work men beat a young homosexual to death. How can such horror be portrayed onstage? And then performed again, night after night? Tracking even their slightest expressions, a camera is constantly reframing the work of six actors, two of whom are non-professionals. Inexorably, in recreating an outrageous crime, the intolerable becomes banal. A brilliant demonstration of the force of theatre.

Credits

Produced by International Institute of Political Murder
Conceived, written, and directed by Milo Rau
Performed by and written with Suzy Cocco + Kristien de Proost + Sébastien Foucault + Adil Laboudi + Fabian Leenders + Sabri Saad El Hamus
Research and Dramaturgy Eva-Maria Bertschy
Dramaturgic Collaboration Stefan Bläske + Carmen Hornbostel
Set and Costume Design Anton Lukas
Vidéo Maxime Jennes + Dimitri Petrovic
Lighting Design Jurgen Kolb
Sound Design and Technical Director Jens Baudisch
Production Management Mascha Euchner-Martinez + Eva-Karen Tittmann
Camera Maxime Jennes + Moritz von Dungern
Technical Staff on tour Sylvain Faye (Light) + François Pacco (Subtitles)
Set Design Assistant Patty Eggerickx
Fight Choreography Cédric Cerbara
Vocal Coaching Murielle Legrand
Musical Arrangements Gil Mortio
Public Relations Yven Augustin
Set and Costumes Construction Workshops and studios of the Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles
Background actors Mustapha Aboulkhir + Stefan Bläske + Tom De Brabandere + Elise Deschambre + Thierry Duirat + Stéphane Gornikowski + Kevin Lerat + François Pacco + Daniel Roche de Oliveira + Laura Sterckx + Adrien Varsalona

Co-produced by Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussells) + NTGent (Ghent) + Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne + Nanterre-Amandiers – centre dramatique national + Tandem Scène nationale Arras Douai + Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz (Berlin) + Théâtre de Liège + Münchner Kammerspiele + Künstlerhaus Mousonturm (Frankfurt) + Theater Chur + Gessnerallee Zürich + Romaeuropa Festival
With the support of Hauptstadtkulturfonds (Berlin) + Pro Helvetia + Ernst Göhner Stiftung + Kulturförderung Kanton St. Gallen + ESACT Liège

Presented in association with Place des Arts + Festival du nouveau cinéma

Written by Paul Lefebvre
Translated by Neil Kroetsch

Premiered at kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels, on May 4, 2018

 

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Milo Rau (Ghent + Berlin)
International Institute of Political Murder

Born in Bern, Switzerland in 1977, the director, essayist, journalist and filmmaker Milo Rau has over the past fifteen years been rejuvenating documentary theatre, which he views as a « combat sport ».

Full biography
Interview