Das Heerlager der Heiligen
Uraufführung nach Jean Raspail
based on the French novel by Jean Raspail "Le Camp des Saints" in the Edition Robert Laffont
translated and adapted for the stage by Hermann Schmidt-Rahmer and Marion Tiedtke
Jean Raspail’s “Das Heerlager der Heiligen” (“The Camp of the Saints”), originally published in 1973, presents an uncannily prescient vision of the present: it explores the gross imbalances between the impoverished global South and the rich but politically unstable global North.
When a fleet of ships filled with starving Indian refugees strands in the south of France, the grande nation faces a crisis. While the French government waits for a humanitarian solution, the country tears itself apart and begins to question its humanist values. Raspail’s apocalyptic dystopia is a grotesque take on Western anxieties about the clash of cultures. His text asks uncomfortable questions about global economic disparities. It is built on the subconscious but uncomfortable knowledge that others have to pay the price for our wealth. Ultimately, Raspail questions the very foundations of humanism.
Director Herrmann Schmidt-Rahmer focused on right-wing populism in the previous years. Backed up by his strong belief that theatre can enlighten people, he continues to create popular theatre in the best sense of the word.
