In ‘Die Seherin’ (The Seer), Ursina Lardi plays a war photographer: in search of subjects of horror, she travels to crisis areas around the world. It seems as if she is always one step ahead of suffering and terror, and invulnerable herself. But then she experiences the meaning of violence first-hand. The celebrated war photographer becomes a bitter Cassandra who fights against the blindness of our time. We experience the abysses and loneliness, the cynicism and wisdom of a person who has seen everything.
Image gallery
Milo Rau's new play is based on the life stories of war photographers, Iraqi citizens and his own experiences, such as his encounter with the teacher Azad Hassan in Mosul: during the occupation by Islamic State, he was punished by having one of his hands cut off. Inspired by Sophocles' character Philoktet, who loses everything due to an injury and is banished from society, Rau explores the fragility of our certainties.
Why is violence so seductive? What remains when war and terror destroy the world we know? What happens to us, to the world, to art, when we observe the suffering of others and profit from it? What does it mean to be a witness? Can art alleviate suffering?
Milo Rau, born in Bern in 1977, is artistic director of the Vienna Festival | Free Republic Vienna. As a director and author, he has published around 100 plays, films, books and actions. His theatre productions have been invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen, Festival d'Avignon, Biennale di Venezia, Wiener Festwochen and Brussels Kunstenfestivaldesarts, among others.
From 2018 to 2024, he was artistic director of NTGent (Belgium). ‘Die Seherin’ is Milo Rau's fourth production at the Schaubühne, following ‘Mitleid. Die Geschichte des Maschinengewehrs’ (Pity. The History of the Machine Gun), “LENIN” and ‘Everywoman’.
Additional information
Participating artists
(Beratung, Koordination (Irak))
(Sounddesign)
(Übersetzung, Sprachcoach)
Bettina Ehrlich (Dramaturgie)
Carmen Hornbostel (Dramaturgie)
Anton Lukas (Bühne und Kostüme)
Erich Schneider (Licht)
Moritz von Dungern (Video)
Ursina Lardi (Mit)
(Mit)
