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Making a murder: true-crime stage show recreates a shocking killing Making a murder: true-crime stage show recreates a shocking killing
(2 months later)
On 22 April, 2012, Ihsane Jarfi left a gay bar in Liège, Belgium, and got chatting to a group of men in a Volkswagen Polo. At some point after they all drove off together, the 32-year-old Belgian Moroccan was tortured and killed. His naked body was found two weeks later showing evidence of hours of torture. A crime of such arbitrary viciousness and intolerance shocked the city. For theatremaker Milo Rau, it raises many questions, including whether art can create meaning out of such a meaningless act.On 22 April, 2012, Ihsane Jarfi left a gay bar in Liège, Belgium, and got chatting to a group of men in a Volkswagen Polo. At some point after they all drove off together, the 32-year-old Belgian Moroccan was tortured and killed. His naked body was found two weeks later showing evidence of hours of torture. A crime of such arbitrary viciousness and intolerance shocked the city. For theatremaker Milo Rau, it raises many questions, including whether art can create meaning out of such a meaningless act.
“Can you give a story a sense of the tragic when it is total coincidence?” he asks. “These people are drunk, they meet Ihsane Jarfi, they go too far and they kill him, but it was never their intention. They didn’t plan to take him, they were searching for a girl. The question of the play is, ‘How can you give meaning to this complete coincidence?’”“Can you give a story a sense of the tragic when it is total coincidence?” he asks. “These people are drunk, they meet Ihsane Jarfi, they go too far and they kill him, but it was never their intention. They didn’t plan to take him, they were searching for a girl. The question of the play is, ‘How can you give meaning to this complete coincidence?’”
He’s only 42, but Rau is already one of the darlings of the European festival circuit for his provocations as well as his art. He put paedophilia in the spotlight in Five Easy Pieces, explored the Rwandan genocide in Hate Radio and attempted to cast real-life jihadists in Lam Gods, a show about religion.He’s only 42, but Rau is already one of the darlings of the European festival circuit for his provocations as well as his art. He put paedophilia in the spotlight in Five Easy Pieces, explored the Rwandan genocide in Hate Radio and attempted to cast real-life jihadists in Lam Gods, a show about religion.
Relatively unseen in the UK, the Swiss sociologist turned theatremaker makes his Edinburgh international festival debut with La Reprise: Histoire(s) du Théâtre (I). It is performed by his International Institute of Political Murder and uses the raw material of the homophobic killing to question our attitudes to violence, both real and staged. “What we need is a collective ritual, which is theatre, that will somehow overcome the trauma of dying,” he says.Relatively unseen in the UK, the Swiss sociologist turned theatremaker makes his Edinburgh international festival debut with La Reprise: Histoire(s) du Théâtre (I). It is performed by his International Institute of Political Murder and uses the raw material of the homophobic killing to question our attitudes to violence, both real and staged. “What we need is a collective ritual, which is theatre, that will somehow overcome the trauma of dying,” he says.
In a hybrid of filmed interrogation and documentary re-enactment, Rau uses a cast of professionals and amateurs to get under the skin of Jarfi’s murder. There are ethical questions about turning a distressing true story into a night at the theatre. Rau, who made sure to involve those affected, including Jarfi’s ex-boyfriend and father, says he wouldn’t have gone ahead without their approval. “It depended a lot on the tolerance of these people,” he says. “But I told them: ‘This is not a historical or journalistic work, it’s a play. Somehow the case of your son will be changed so it can become a metaphor for what can happen to everybody.’”In a hybrid of filmed interrogation and documentary re-enactment, Rau uses a cast of professionals and amateurs to get under the skin of Jarfi’s murder. There are ethical questions about turning a distressing true story into a night at the theatre. Rau, who made sure to involve those affected, including Jarfi’s ex-boyfriend and father, says he wouldn’t have gone ahead without their approval. “It depended a lot on the tolerance of these people,” he says. “But I told them: ‘This is not a historical or journalistic work, it’s a play. Somehow the case of your son will be changed so it can become a metaphor for what can happen to everybody.’”
As well as being about violence, the play is about theatre itself. It’s called La Reprise because of the repeated nature of theatre. A performance designed to appear spontaneous is the result of the very opposite: hours of meticulous preparation. To achieve a sense of truth takes elaborate layers of fiction. “If you have a crime you only have stories,” says Rau. “You have the grief of the parents and you have perspectives, but you don’t have the truth. In the theatre you’re always repeating the emotion, repeating the facts. You’re killing on stage but everybody knows that the next day this actor has to act again. The question of how you come to a total, true fictionalisation is the basic question at the heart of theatre.”As well as being about violence, the play is about theatre itself. It’s called La Reprise because of the repeated nature of theatre. A performance designed to appear spontaneous is the result of the very opposite: hours of meticulous preparation. To achieve a sense of truth takes elaborate layers of fiction. “If you have a crime you only have stories,” says Rau. “You have the grief of the parents and you have perspectives, but you don’t have the truth. In the theatre you’re always repeating the emotion, repeating the facts. You’re killing on stage but everybody knows that the next day this actor has to act again. The question of how you come to a total, true fictionalisation is the basic question at the heart of theatre.”
His interest in truth extends to the actors, casting “real” amateurs as well as professionals. In this show, he casts Johan Leysen, a major player whose CV ranges from Jean-Luc Godard to TV shows including Spiral and The Missing, alongside first-timers. The influence works both ways: the amateur actors adopt professional standards, while the professionals are challenged by the lived experience of the amateurs. “When you’re talking about the killing of Ihsane Jarfi, the people on stage knew him and live in Liège, and that changes the point of view,” he says. “It changes the act of acting.”His interest in truth extends to the actors, casting “real” amateurs as well as professionals. In this show, he casts Johan Leysen, a major player whose CV ranges from Jean-Luc Godard to TV shows including Spiral and The Missing, alongside first-timers. The influence works both ways: the amateur actors adopt professional standards, while the professionals are challenged by the lived experience of the amateurs. “When you’re talking about the killing of Ihsane Jarfi, the people on stage knew him and live in Liège, and that changes the point of view,” he says. “It changes the act of acting.”
Doesn’t all this theatre about theatre get very circular? As Leysen says towards the start of the play: “Acting is like delivering a pizza. It’s not about the delivery man. It’s about the pizza.” Could Rau himself be more interested in the delivery man? He’s in two minds: “When you stage a Shakespeare play for the 500th time, then of course it’s about the actor and the act of delivering.”Doesn’t all this theatre about theatre get very circular? As Leysen says towards the start of the play: “Acting is like delivering a pizza. It’s not about the delivery man. It’s about the pizza.” Could Rau himself be more interested in the delivery man? He’s in two minds: “When you stage a Shakespeare play for the 500th time, then of course it’s about the actor and the act of delivering.”
Sex, sheep and terror: the scandalous theatre of Milo RauSex, sheep and terror: the scandalous theatre of Milo Rau
In practice, the production is both things. It is about the representation of violence as well as the violence itself. “Heiner Müller said theatre is a dialogue with the dead,” says Rau. “It’s a dialogue going only in the one direction. What we can do by delivering, by doing this ritual again and again, is talk to the dead and perhaps they will hear you. If the public will just be present watching this ritual between the living and the dead … on the one hand it’s just delivering pizza, on the other hand it’s an antique, beautiful and tragic experience. I like there being a lot of meta in the show but I also like it being direct and emotional.”In practice, the production is both things. It is about the representation of violence as well as the violence itself. “Heiner Müller said theatre is a dialogue with the dead,” says Rau. “It’s a dialogue going only in the one direction. What we can do by delivering, by doing this ritual again and again, is talk to the dead and perhaps they will hear you. If the public will just be present watching this ritual between the living and the dead … on the one hand it’s just delivering pizza, on the other hand it’s an antique, beautiful and tragic experience. I like there being a lot of meta in the show but I also like it being direct and emotional.”
La Reprise: Histoire(s) du Théâtre (I) is at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, 3–5 August.La Reprise: Histoire(s) du Théâtre (I) is at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, 3–5 August.
La Reprise: Histoire(s) du Théâtre (I) is at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, 3–5 August.La Reprise: Histoire(s) du Théâtre (I) is at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, 3–5 August.
Edinburgh festival 2019Edinburgh festival 2019
TheatreTheatre
Edinburgh festivalEdinburgh festival
BelgiumBelgium
EuropeEurope
Political theatrePolitical theatre
Milo Rau
featuresfeatures
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