Nov 09—11, 2017
The State of Siege
THÉÂTRE DE LA VILLE / PARIS
Stand up to the face of fear.
Written by Nobel Prize–winning author Albert Camus, staged by leading avant-garde French director Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota and produced by the celebrated Paris theatre company Théâtre de la Ville, The State of Siege is set to take the country by storm this fall on its first visit to the United States. The rarely staged work, penned in 1948, weaves a tale of paranoia, endurance and political struggle resulting in a dizzying modern metaphor. With a renowned ensemble working on an epic scale, The State of Siege (L’État de siège) explores how art can serve as a way to process – and to resist – human atrocities. What role can art play in the face of peril? Faced with imminent danger, can the human spirit remain focused on the beauty of life?
Info
Venue
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
Dates
Nov 09, 2017 - Nov 11, 2017
Details
1 hour, 35 minutes, no intermission
Tickets from $20
Ages 16+
Performed in French with English surtitles
“Rousing and inventive.”
— Critics at Large
“Although it is a very dark play, I believe it actually evokes a world of beauty, of the power of love, the necessity for us to find meaning in life through engagement and resistance as we confront our worst fears.”
— DIRECTOR EMMANUEL DEMARCY-MOTA ON CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL RELEVANCE OF ‘STATE OF SIEGE’ AT ZELLERBACH HALL
“Demarcy-Mota’s tension never relents…a paean to the madmen of the world, to their courage, their perceptiveness, their generosity. For the rest of us, it’s a spur to be madder.”
— San Fransisco Chronicle
“The play is an allegory of the contamination of a fascist ideology to which Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota gives great theatrical strength.”
“beautifully staged and well thought, bending towards tragic grotesque.”
“The ensemble includes two exceptional stage monsters, Serge Maggiani and, above all, Hugues Quester, who has no equal to instill a razor blade anxiety and strangeness.”
— Le Monde
“Under the vigorous direction of Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, Camus’ play -a metaphor of a liberticidal and totalitarian power- is enhanced.”
— Telerama
“There is talent on stage: Serge Maggiani pitches at lib a Demonic Plague. The blond Philippe Demarle imposes his ambiguous charisma in the role of the nihilist Nada, and the dark haired Matthieu Dessertine embodies a lyric and boosted Diego with great style.”
— Les Echos
“A stunning Kafkaesque spiral. A generous and swirling staging.”
— Sceneweb
“Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, in a spectacular form that occupies the whole theatrical space, features Albert Camus’ State of Siege, a rarely mounted and particularly alarming piece in the current political context.”
“With exalted lyricism, Hannah Levin Seidermann and Matthieu Dessertine, cursed lovers filled with fiery youth and beauty, proclaim their love stronger than evil.”
— Toute La Culture
“Inspiring. In this glacial adaptation, Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota directs a people in a most violent but also realistic descent into hell. The only rampart against dictatorship is courage.”
— La Vie
“Camus remains very contemporary”
“State of Siege is one of Albert Camus’ less known plays, and yet it remains of a burning reality in these times of triumphant security and government by fear.”
— Arte