Milo Rau Brings The Repetition and The Congo Tribunal to Romaeuropa Festival

Swiss director and documentarian Milo Rau (born 1977 in Bern) presents two works at the Romaeuropa Festival in Rome: the stage production The Repetition – Histoire(s) du Théâtre and the film The Congo Tribunal. The Repetition, which premiered at Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels and later at Festival d'Automne in Paris, will be performed at Teatro Vascello from November 9 to 11. The play is based on the murder of Ihsane Jarfi, killed by a group of young men outside a bar in Liège, Belgium. Rau worked with the victim's family and friends, casting two non-professional actors (a dog sitter and a warehouse worker) alongside four professionals. The title references Kierkegaard's essay on aesthetics and ethics, exploring art as a response to mortality. The Congo Tribunal screens on November 8 at Opificio Romaeuropa, examining the causes of the Congo war and its over six million deaths over twenty years, featuring victims, perpetrators, observers, and scholars in a fictional tribunal. Rau describes his practice as oscillating between activist optimism (The Congo Tribunal led to the dismissal of two ministers) and pessimistic reflection on evil. The production follows the NTGent Manifest, a set of rules for democratic theater that bans classics in favor of original creation, aiming to merge research and repertory theater. Rau won the Ubu Prize in 2017 for Five Easy Pieces.