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Murder, blood, revenge. Endless. Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia, his wife Klytaimnestra kills him and is murdered by her own son. Only a goddess can stop the spiral of violence. Is this really the founding myth of Western civilization? Swiss director Milo Rau, winner of many awards, has his doubts. In Orest in Mossul he combines ancient history with our current political conflicts. He asks: How can fundamentalist warriors be integrated into society today? Can this succeed?
What distinguishes Orest in Mossul from other Oresteia stagings?
Milo Rau: Our international ensemble and our view on the topic. In 2016 I was in northern Iraq in the completely destroyed city of Sinjar. It was like being in a TV picture and a classic epic at the same time. Then the idea arose to adapt Aeschylus‘ antique Oresteia for our time. How can the divided parties live peacefully together again in the Syrian-Iraqi civil war? This is the old question of mankind: how can an offence be atoned for without new violence being provoked again.
Do you see a solution?
Milo Rau: With Aeschylus, only the goddess Athena can stop the violence: she offers the goddesses of revenge a place in society. Inclusion instead of exclusion. Hugs instead of hatred. But what do we do with jihadists when the ISIS is over and they return to their Iraqi villages (or to Europe)? There are warriors all over the world who return home from wars. How can they be "civilized" again?
How is the performance created?
Milo Rau: We rehearse in several phases. One part of the project will also be in Mossul in Iraq: in a barracks of Peshmerga in Kurdistan, in cooperation with local fighters, poets and inhabitants. Filming from there will also be part of the performance.
Information about the piece
- Orest in Mossul
- Text: Milo Rau and ensemble after Aischylos
- Director: Milo Rau
- With: Duraid Abbas Ghaieb, Susana AbdulMajid, Rayan Shihab Ahmed, Hathal Al-Hianey, Suleik Salim Al-Khabbaz, Saif Al-Taee, Baraa Ali, Firas Atraqchi, Nabeel Atraqchi, Mustafa Dargham, Younis Anad Gabori, Zaidun Haitham, Ahmed Abdul Razzaq Hussein, Khitam Idress, Risto Kübar, Johan Leysen, Bert Luppes, Rabee Nameer, Abdallah Nawfal, Marijke Pinoy, Khalid Rawi, Mohamed Saalim, Hassan Taha, Elsie de Brauw
- Premiere: 17.05.2019
- Language: Dutch, Arabic and English with German and English surtitles
Video content
Participants
- Director: Milo Rau
- Director: Milo Rau
- Dramaturgy: Stefan Bläske
- Stage design: Ruimtevaarders
- Costume design: An De Mol
- Light design: Dennis Diels
- Film, live-camera: Moritz von Dungern
- Film: Daniel Demoustier
- Film editing: Joris Vertenten
- Musical arrangement: Saskia Venegas Aernaudt
- Direction assistance: Katelijne Laevens
- Production manager: Noemi Suarez Sanchez
- Mit: Duraid Abbas Ghaieb, Susana AbdulMajid, Elsie de Brauw, Risto Kübar, Johan Leysen, Bert Luppes, Marijke Pinoy
- Team Iraq (on Video) – Musicians: Suleik Salim Al-Khabbaz, Saif Al-Taee
- Team Iraq (on video) – Musicians: Firas Atraqchi, Nabeel Atraqchi, Zaidun Haitham, Rabee Nameer
- Team Iraq (on video) – Actors: Baraa Ali, Khalid Rawi, Khitam Idress
- Team Iraq (on video) – Chorus: Rayan Shihab Ahmed, Hathal Al-Hianey, Mustafa Dargham, Younis Anad Gabori, Ahmed Abdul Razzaq Hussein, Abdallah Nawfal, Mohamed Saalim, Hassan Taha
Images
© Fred Debrock
© Fred Debrock
© Fred Debrock
© Fred Debrock
© Fred Debrock
© Fred Debrock
© Fred Debrock
© Fred Debrock
© Fred Debrock
© Fred Debrock
© Fred Debrock
© Fred Debrock
© Fred Debrock
© Fred Debrock
© Fred Debrock
Press reviews
Ein neuer Maßstab für Klassikerbearbeitungen.
NRC, Kester Freriks
Atemberaubend – von der ersten bis zur letzten Minute.
De Tijd, Koen Van Boxem
Die griechische Tragödie der Vergangenheit glasklar verbunden mit dem Mossul der Gegenwart.
De Standaard, Filip Tielens
Etwas vom Wertvollsten, was dem Regisseur je geglückt ist.
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
,
Daniele Muscionico
Kann ein Theaterstück eine zerrissene Stadt heilen?
New York Times
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Alissa J. Rubin
Eine zutiefst politische Inszenierung.
Deutschlandfunk
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Eberhard Spreng
Demut und Würde.
Schweizer Fernsehen RTS
Klytaimnestra, mit mimetischem Feintuning und kaum gezügeltem Hass gespielt von der großartigen Elsie de Brauw.
Süddeutsche Zeitung
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Christine Dössel
Milo Rau sucht und findet in seiner Uraufführung Orest in Mossul Parallelen zwischen antiken Schicksalsfiguren und Opfern des IS. Eine globale zeitgenössische Tragödie.
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
,
Daniele Muscionico
Ein großer, emotionaler Theaterabend, hinter dem ein intelligentes Konzept steht. Ein schallendes Bravo an alle Beteiligten.
Ruhr Nachrichten
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Kai-Uwe Brinkmann
Tatsächlich ist „Orest in Mossul“ ein fordernder Abend, nachdenklich und brutal. Man schaut zunächst zu, als sähe man eine Dokumentation und wahrt Distanz. Doch dann ereignet sich doch große Theaterkunst, das, was erst unfertig und improvisiert wirkt, entwickelt bald eine sogartige Kraft, die unmittelbar bannt.
taz
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Regine Müller