Milo Rau's Tribunal Theatre Faces Backlash Over Peter Thiel Invite

Milo Rau, the Swiss director and artistic head of Vienna's Wiener Festwochen, creates theatrical tribunals that intertwine performance with ethical evaluation. His approach, developed through The International Institute for Political Murder, features actual witnesses and symbolic judgments. Significant tribunals he has conducted include the Moscow Trials in 2013 and the Congo Tribunal in 2015, which resulted in the resignation of two Congolese ministers. This year, controversy erupted when Rau invited and then rescinded an invitation to Peter Thiel for the "Republic of Gods" festival, canceling his panel due to threats of a boycott. Austrian filmmaker Ruth Beckermann criticized Rau for avoiding a debate with Thiel. His May "Tribunal of Faith" on colonial restitution was seen as a lost chance. Rau's "Trial Against Germany," featuring former AfD co-leader Frauke Petry, caused a scandal. He is set to direct Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer at Deutsche Oper Berlin next.