(translated as "Charges (The Supplicants)"
[Both the German and the English titles are an allusion to the Ancient Greek play of a similar name. A more literal translation of the modern German title would be "those entrusted to protection".]),
is a play by
Elfriede Jelinek
Elfriede Jelinek (; born 20 October 1946) is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She is one of the most decorated authors writing in German today and was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature for her "musical flow of voices and counter-vo ...
written in 2013. She termed it a ''Sprachkunstwerk'', a language artwork. It deals critically with the politics at the time concerning refugees. The play was first read in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
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, postal ...
on 21 September 2013. The first scenic production was in
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...
on 23 May 2014. The first production in Austria was staged at the
Burgtheater in Vienna on 28 March 2015, which was recognised internationally. Later that year, Jelinek expanded the text to reflect the
changed political situation.
Theme
has a complex structure, with two intertwined parts: A modern story of refugees reaching Europe from Africa, and allusions to the ancient play
The Suppliants by
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
(which also has its protagonists arrive in Europe as refugees).
But while in the ancient story asylum is granted to the refugees, in Elfriede Jelinek's play they are denied protection (except for a few "rich" refugees not fleeing from Africa).
Thus its central theme is the conflict between
humanitarian ideals as termed in
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
culture, especially tragedy, with contemporary political human rights discourses in a situation when refugees from Africa flee to Europe, crossing the Mediterranean Sea and risking their lives.
The play questions whether the European Union's policies at the time were still in line with human rights going back to ancient Greece.
Jelinek used the
language of the past to unveil the "rule of the powerful arbitrary gods of the economy" ().
History
Jelinek wrote the text for
Nicolas Stemann
Nicolas Stemann (born 1968 in Hamburg, West Germany) is a German theatre director. He is best known for directing the 2002 stage production of ''Hamlet'' at Schauspiel Hannover, a theatre in Hanover.
Career
Stemann studied German literature an ...
's production ''Kommune der Wahrheit'' at the
Wiener Festwochen
__NOTOC__
The Wiener Festwochen (Vienna Festival) is a cultural festival in Vienna that takes place every year for five or six weeks in May and June. The Wiener Festwochen was established in 1951, when Vienna was still occupied by the four Alli ...
2013, but it was not used there.
The Hamburg
Thalia Theater was interested in the topic, in order to support a project to support refugees.
It led to the original reading of the text at the church on 21 September 2013, where 80 refugees had found shelter.
A Dutch premiere followed in a collaboration of
Theater der Welt,
Holland Festival
The Holland Festival () is the oldest and largest performing arts festival in the Netherlands. It takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theatre, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and archit ...
,
and the Thalia Theater.
The first staged production was part of the
Theater der Welt festival in Mannheim, directed by Stemann.
The Austrian premiere was performed at the
Burgtheater in Vienna on 28 March 2015, directed by
Michael Thalheimer,
with scenic design by
Olaf Altmann
Olaf Altmann (born 1966) is a German scenic designer.
Born in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz), Altmann began his theatre career as a stage technician at the municipal theatre. There, he also designed his first stage design for a production of Hasko ...
and costumes designed by
Katrin Lea Tag.
The play was later combined with the ancient play by Aeschylus which had inspired Jelinek, and the mixed play premiered at on 2 October 2015
and at
Maxim Gorki Theater
The Maxim Gorki Theatre (german: Maxim Gorki Theater) is a theatre in Berlin-Mitte named after the Soviet writer, Maxim Gorky. In 2012, the Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit named Şermin Langhoff as the artist director of the theatre.
History
It ...
on 13 November 2015.
Incidents
On 14 April 2016, around 40 members of the
Identitäre Bewegung Österreich stormed the main
lecture hall
A lecture hall (or lecture theatre) is a large room used for instruction, typically at a college or university. Unlike a traditional classroom with a capacity normally between one and fifty, the capacity of lecture halls is usually measured i ...
of the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...
where was performed, spraying
fake blood
Theatrical blood, stage blood or fake blood is anything used as a substitute for blood in a theatrical or cinematic performance. For example, in the special effects industry, when a director needs to simulate an actor being shot or cut, a wide ...
into the audience and throwing leaflets against
multiculturalism
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...
. After an ensuing brawl in which both refugees (who participated in the play) and members of the audience were attacked, police arrived and managed to apprehend four of the offenders. Eight people were later charged with assault, several more because of the disruption. The mayors of Vienna and other politicians condemned the incident.
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schutzbefohlenen #Die
Plays by Elfriede Jelinek
2013 plays
Plays based on works by Aeschylus
Modern adaptations of works by Aeschylus