Pfauen
New translation by Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel commissioned by the Schauspielhaus Zürich
«You speak against your heart.»
Times are restless, shaken by war, when young Hugo joins the communist party in the fictional country of Illyria. He seeks to flee his intellectual childhood home and its bourgeois privilege to fight for justice. Conflicts rage between various powers in the country, which is why party leader Hoederer is striving for a strategic alliance with the opposition – to the dissatisfaction of the radical party members. They decide to do away with him. To do something for once, Hugo plays hit man and moves with his wife Jessica into Hoederer’s house. Fueled by revolutionary ideals, he meets an experienced political realist who captivates him, and Hugo’s principles begin to waver.
Sartre’s 1948 piece is both timeless political thriller and strategic experiment about conduct, values, and humanity. Here it is the hands of Jan Bosse, who lends the philosophical text a playful staging. Contemplating power and morality, freedom and responsibility, Bosse returns to Schauspielhaus Zürich six years later.
