Figure 1.

On International Workers’ Day,

1 May 2012, a man walking his dog
discovered Ihsane Jarfi’s body in a field.
La Reprise: Histoire(s) du théâtre (I),
Milo Rau and Ensemble. Théâtre
National, Brussels, May 2018.
(Photo by Hubert Amiel)
Pieces
La Reprise: Histoire(s)
du théâtre (I)
Milo Rau and Ensemble
Reprise et ressouvenir sont un même mouvement, mais Equipment — Workshops and studios of
en direction opposée; car, ce dont on a ressouvenir, Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles
a été: c’est une reprise en arrière; alors que la reprise
Performers
proprement dite est un ressouvenir en avant.
 — Søren Kierkegaard (La Reprise, 1843) Tom — Tom Adjibi
Sara — Sara De Bosschere
(Repetition and recollection are the same Suzy — Suzy Cocco
movement, except in opposite directions; for
Sébastien — Sébastien Foucault
what is recollected has been, is repeated back-
ward. Whereas the real repetition is recollected Fabian — Fabian Leenders
forward.) Johan — Johan Leysen

Production Notes La Reprise: Histoire(s) du théâtre (I)

La Reprise: Histoire(s) du théâtre (I) premiered JOHAN: What did I just do?
in Brussels as part of Kunstenfestivaldesarts, at
Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles on 4 May I entered.
2018. It has toured to Lausanne, Barcelona, I think entering is the most difficult part. Once
Berlin, Rome, Munich, Amsterdam, Adelaide, you’re on stage, in the situation, everything is
São Paolo, Taipei, and Edinburgh, among clear. You just react.
other places. But the question is: When do you become
Production Credits the character? At what moment does the
tragedy begin? Some actors begin in their
Concept, Text, and Director — Milo Rau dressing rooms. Or they identify. To “get into
Research and Dramaturgy — Eva-Maria Bertschy character.” I can’t do that. I don’t think they’re
Dramaturgic Collaboration — Stefan Bläske, playing characters, they’re playing being actors.
Carmen Hornbostel Just like directors who shout — they’re not
directing, they’re “being” directors.
Set and Costume Design — Anton Lukas
Acting is like delivering a pizza: It’s not about
Video — Maxime Jennes, Dimitri Petrovic the delivery man. It’s about the pizza. The
Light Design — Jurgen Kolb best actors communicate something, deliver
Technical Director — Jens Baudisch something. And the less they stand in the way
of that something the more that something
Producers — Mascha Euchner-Martinez,
can exist.
Eva-Karen Tittmann
I’ve been an actor since my 20s, nearly half
Assistant Director — Carmen Hornbostel
a century. I’ve played everything, even dead
Assistant Dramaturg — François Pacco people.
Assistant Set Designer — Patty Eggerickx Once, I played the ghost of Hamlet’s father.
Public Relations — Yven Augustin Mist, please...
Design — Nina Wolters

TDR 65:1 (T249) 2021  https://doi.org/10.1017/S1054204320000076

© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of New York University Tisch School of the Arts 41
 “I am thy father’s spirit, to play a sonata. And the lawyer said, “I don’t
Doom’d for a certain term to walk the night, understand — how do you want to talk to the
And for the day confin’d to fast in fires, dead? The dead don’t speak.” “Maybe,” says the
young man, “but they can hear us.”
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purg’d away. The Repetition
But that I am forbid to tell the secrets of my SÉBASTIEN: I studied acting at the
prison-house, Conservatoire in Liège and when I graduated,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word would I stayed and lived there. Maybe some of you
harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, know Liège from the films by the Dardenne
brothers? Little brick houses blackened by
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their
factory smoke, the River Meuse, slag heaps,
spheres, Thy knotted and combined locks to
and as far as the eye can see, blast furnaces,
part
warehouses, factories. For 200 years, Liège was
And each particular hair to stand on end, at the center of the world’s steel industry but
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine.” since the ’80s all the factories have gradually
been sold and boarded up. It’s as though
That’s theatre!
the whole of Liège suddenly lost its job. For
A dead person speaking, a ghost. But in real generations it was a city of workers but today,
life of course the dead don’t speak, they don’t if you live in Liège, the chances are you’ll
even hear, they’re just dead. Although, I did be unemployed. Unless of course you’re in a
hear about someone who spoke to the dead... Dardenne brothers film.
A lawyer told me one day he had to defend
So when, in 2012, just after the last steelworks
a young musician, an excellent pianist, who
closed, Ihsane Jarfi was murdered, it was like
had won first prize at the conservatory, but a
a symbol for the final decline of the city. A
hypersensitive romantic with psychological
young man, a homosexual, killed by other
problems. His therapist suggested he go
young unemployed men. He got into their car
and live alone because he still lived with his
by chance, a gray Polo, they undressed him,
mother. He found a small house near an
they beat him to death, and left him on the
old, ruined cemetery. Walking through the
outskirts of the city, naked, on a cold, rainy
cemetery one day, he noticed some of the
night in April. His agony lasted four hours. His
graves had been vandalized. They were crypts,
body wasn’t recovered until 10 days later, as it
little chapels with steps going down. And our
happened very close to a small wood where I
musician became fascinated. He went down
often walked with my daughter and my in-laws’
into the graves and found...people. For some
border collie. So of course I sometimes think it
reason the bodies were well-preserved and
could have been me who found the body.
only partially decomposed. Overwhelmed by
a great loneliness he brought a body home. The trial started two years later, in 2014. It
He made a hole in his ceiling to hide it. And lasted four and a half weeks. By chance, I was
now and again, when he felt very lonely he on holiday — well, actually, unemployed...
would bring the body out and sit it in an and whenever I could, I would go to the
armchair, for company. Then he brought back courthouse. There were very moving
a second body, a woman... And then a child... moments, and very tough ones, and some were
And finally a baby. But he made the mistake completely absurd. For instance, when for
of talking about it. The authorities found more than two hours they discussed whether
out, and he was arrested, accused of body Ihsane Jarfi had said to the murderers: “I want
snatching and desecration of a grave. And so to suck a big cock.” And whether the tragedy
Milo Rau & Ensemble

he came to be in our lawyer’s office who found had occurred because of that remark. In front
himself sitting opposite a polite young man, of his mother and his whole family. I felt no
who could tell you everything about Chopin, sympathy for the accused but I was shocked by
Purcell, and Mozart, who could explain how how the judge openly mocked their common
way of speaking.

42
One other detail struck me: The night of the SUZY: I have two sons. And I took in a Libyan
murder, before driving into the city center, one refugee.
of the killers celebrated his birthday with his
JOHAN: To make a few bucks?
girlfriend in the Liège suburbs. While Ihsane
Jarfi was celebrating a colleague’s birthday at SUZY: No, actually I work more to be able to
the Open Bar in the city center. And the next feed him.
day was his mother’s birthday. An unbeliev-
able coincidence, or maybe just something very JOHAN: Do you believe in God?
ordinary. During the trial I recorded the pro- SUZY: No.
ceedings in secret and filled a dozen notebooks.
I remember everything. JOHAN: But you’re Italian!
To recreate this story onstage we organized a SUZY: I’m a communist.
casting call at the Théâtre de Liège.
JOHAN: Have you ever been in a movie?
JOHAN: Suzy?
SUZY: I was an extra in the last Dardenne
SUZY: Yes. brothers film, The Unknown Girl.
JOHAN: Why theatre? JOHAN: What was it about?
SUZY: I don’t know... I’m retired. I’ve taken SUZY: Well, as usual, it takes place in Seraing,
some acting classes. which is the old mining area in Liège.
JOHAN: Age? JOHAN: Where Ihsane Jarfi’s killers came
from?
SUZY: 67. I think we are the same age.
SUZY: Yes, indeed.
JOHAN: How is it going, being retired?
JOHAN: What did you do in the film?
SUZY: Financially it’s not ideal. Belgian
pensions aren’t great. But I make some money SUZY: I had to drive up in my car. I used up all
dog-sitting for rich people. my gas because the Dardenne brothers made
me do it at least five times. When I saw the
JOHAN: How much do you make doing that?
movie, you don’t even see me, except passing
SUZY: If I have them two or three weeks, it’s by for a second in the distance. For 50 euros! I
not bad. Last month I made 600 euros and so I thought they were going to fill my tank, but no.
was able to go to Sardinia.
JOHAN: Have you done theatre before?
JOHAN: Cash in hand?
SUZY: Yes, once, in an amateur show. The
SUZY: Of course, otherwise there wouldn’t be Doctor in Spite of Himself. I played Christine, the
anything left. woodcutter’s wife.

JOHAN: Cocco, that’s not a Belgian name... JOHAN: Ah... Molière... Can you cry?

SUZY: No, my father was Sardinian, he arrived SUZY: Now? No.

in Liège in ’48.
JOHAN: Try... You have to think of something
JOHAN: He came to work in the mines. sad. What are you thinking about?

SUZY: Yes. SUZY: About my friend who died.

JOHAN: You’re married? JOHAN: Do you miss her?

SUZY: I was married, but I got divorced in ’87. SUZY: Yes, every day... I can’t.
My husband preferred a fake blonde.
JOHAN: Have you ever done anything
La Reprise

JOHAN: Children? extreme?

43
 SUZY: In the last play, I played an old lady SÉBASTIEN: Fabian, can you speak more
who had been abandoned. It was a reference clearly?
to abandoned dogs. I had to crawl around on
FABIAN: Yes, sorry. So... Two unemployed
all fours.
guys are in a bar drinking beer and reading the
JOHAN: Show us! paper... One says to the other: “Look — 
unemployment’s up again.” The other guy
(She takes a few steps on all fours.)
thinks and says: “Well, they must be happy with
SUZY: Like this... A dog. us then.”

JOHAN: You can sit down again. SARA: You like telling jokes?
Have you ever done any nude scenes? FABIAN: Yes.
SUZY: No one has ever asked me to. SARA: Fabian, have you ever done theatre
before?
JOHAN: Would you?
FABIAN: A few times, some small parts.
SUZY: I’m 67 — it might be a bit late.
SARA: Why does it interest you?
JOHAN: Would you do it with me?
FABIAN: There’s a certain freedom in theatre...
SUZY: I don’t know.
You can do things that you can’t do in real life.
JOHAN: Thank you Suzy.
SARA: Have you ever kissed anyone onstage?
SARA: Fabian?
FABIAN: Once.
FABIAN: Yes?
SARA: Can you kiss me?
SARA: You are a forklift driver?
FABIAN: Yes.
FABIAN: Yes.
SARA: And have you ever hit anybody onstage?
SARA: Have you always done that?
FABIAN: No.
FABIAN: No. I was a bricklayer for 15 years.
SARA: Can you hit me?
But I didn’t like it, it wasn’t for me. So a lot of
the time I was late to work, and drunk. And FABIAN: You? A gentle tap?
then I hurt my back so I stopped and got my
forklift license to drive a Clark. But I’m having SARA: Yes — hit me.
a hard time finding work in that field. It seems (He slaps her slightly.)
everybody in Liège is a forklift operator. When
the factories closed, everybody thought that SARA: Harder.
was the thing to do.
(He slaps her a little harder.)
SARA: Why are you interested in the theatre?
SARA: Look, there’s a technique. (She shows
FABIAN: Recently I went on a professional him a fake slap.)
reorientation seminar and apparently I have an
(He tries.)
artistic profile.
SARA: What’s important is the reaction of the
SARA: There’s a lot of unemployment. It must
person who gets hit.
be difficult?
Milo Rau & Ensemble

(He fake-slaps her hard — she falls on the ground.)

FABIAN: The statistics say there’s one job for
every sixty unemployed people. SARA: You can go back to your table. What is
Speaking of the unemployed...do you know that machine?
this joke? Two unemployed guys are in a café
drinking beer and

44
FABIAN: A sampler. I can play all
kinds of sounds. Birds. A city. Rain.
Applause. I put that on after sex.

SARA: So you’re a DJ?

FABIAN: Well, I make electronic

music.

SARA: Who’s your favorite artist?

FABIAN: Aphex Twin.

SARA: Which song do you like

best?

FABIAN: “Polynomial C.”

SARA: Why?

FABIAN: It’s a piece that’s very

sad but it has a catchy beat. That
combination of sadness and energy
moves me.

Do you want to hear it?

SARA: Yes.

(He turns on the music.)

SÉBASTIEN: Tom?

TOM: Fabian, turn the music off

please.

SÉBASTIEN: Why do you do Figure 2. Tom Adjibi’s audition during which he says that people
theatre? have told him he looks like Ihsane Jarfi. La Reprise: Histoire(s)
du théâtre (I), Milo Rau and Ensemble. Théâtre National,
TOM: Why I do theatre? Because Brussels, May 2018. (Photo by Hubert Amiel)
for me it’s the school of life. No, I
don’t know. To make people laugh.

SÉBASTIEN: Why did you come SÉBASTIEN: You do!

to these auditions?
TOM: A few years ago I went to an audition
TOM: You were looking for a young North for a Dardenne brothers film. They were
African. looking for a black African. So I sent them my
CV and they called me in. So I sent them some
SÉBASTIEN: Yes... But you you’re from
photos and I never heard from them again. I
Benin, aren’t you?
think they thought I wasn’t black enough for
TOM: No, I’m from Lille. the role. I left messages but no response. So
the day of the auditions I went to their offices
SÉBASTIEN: You know what I mean. in Liège without an appointment and they
TOM: No, I don’t. My mother is French, my gave me a slot anyway. I wasn’t right physically
father is originally from Benin. But they always because my sister and my mother were black
offer me Arab roles. And I’ve been told I look a in the film. They said: “Maybe you could play
little like Ihsane Jarfi. Kader, an Arab.” But Kader was in his 40s. So
La Reprise

eventually they gave me the part of the doctor.

45
 JOHAN: A doctor — that’s good, right? TOM: Not really... I’ve made myself throw up
a few times.
TOM: Yes, for once it was OK. Thanks,
Dardenne brothers. But it bothers me that SÉBASTIEN: What do you think would be the
people never ask me to play a character, just most radical act on stage?
an origin. I get offered “the Arab” or “the
TOM: There’s a scene in a book by Wajdi
mixed-race man” or “the multicultural youth,”
Mouawad that completely sums up what I
but never “the bad guy” or “the good guy” or
think theatre is. He imagines an empty stage
“the mad man,” whatever. If you’re black you
with a chair in the middle. Just above the chair,
either get to play a black person, or you do
there’s a noose. A character tells the audience
political theatre where you criticize that you
that he is going to stand on the chair and put
only play black people. Or you do dance. So
the noose around his neck. Then he’s going
I’ve developed some strategies.
to kick the chair away and hold onto the rope
SÉBASTIEN: What strategies? to prevent himself being strangled. He says
that in rehearsals he can last about 20 seconds.
TOM: I went to an audition where they wanted
The character climbs on the chair, puts the
people who spoke several languages. On my
noose around his neck and he kicks the chair
resumé I said I spoke Beninese and Danish.
away. Either someone will save him and he
Which isn’t true at all, I don’t speak either one.
survives. Or, the audience doesn’t move and the
So I spent the day pretending.
character dies. The actor dies.
SÉBASTIEN: Can you show us?
Chapter I
(TOM speaks fake Danish.) The Loneliness of the Living
TOM: The problem was there was a Swedish SÉBASTIEN: The day after Ihsane Jarfi dies
girl who actually spoke Danish... Obviously is his mother’s birthday. It’s a normal Sunday
she didn’t have a clue what I was saying... So I in April.
asked her quietly in English, “Please, pretend The sky above Liège is gray. It’s a little cold,
you understand.” the beginning of spring. Like every evening
around 11:00 p.m., before I go to bed, I am
SÉBASTIEN: And Beninese? How do you do
walking my dog.
that?
(On the bed. SUZY’s awake, naked. She gets up and
TOM: The trick is to add a few words that are
sits on the bed.)
the same in every language. Like YouTube or
Coca Cola, it makes it credible. JOHAN: You’re awake... What time is it?
SÉBASTIEN: Show us! SUZY: Nearly midnight.
(He speaks fake Beninese.) JOHAN: Can’t you sleep?
TOM: I can also speak Arabic if you need it. SUZY: No...
SÉBASTIEN: What’s your favorite music? He didn’t come.

TOM: At the moment I’m listening to a lot of JOHAN: You know what he’s like.
classical music. “The Cold Song” for instance. I
SUZY: Yes, that’s the problem.
don’t know why, that song really gets me.
JOHAN: Don’t worry. He’s living his life. But
SÉBASTIEN: What is it?
you’re right, he shouldn’t forget his mother’s
Milo Rau & Ensemble

TOM: It’s by Purcell. It’s the story of a man birthday.

who begs the God of Love to let him freeze to
SUZY: He’s not answering the phone or my
death.
texts.
SÉBASTIEN: Have you ever done anything
( JOHAN takes his phone and dials Ihsane’s
extreme onstage?
number.)

46
JOHAN: Voicemail. That is odd,
indeed.

SUZY: So?

JOHAN: So what... You want

me to call the police? He’s not
a child, he’s 32... Remember
when he disappeared with his
boyfriend without telling us?

SUZY: It’s not the same...

I don’t think you care much.

JOHAN: What?

SUZY: Ihsane...his life.

JOHAN: Come here.

(He kisses her.) Figure 3. Suzy Cocco and Sabri Saad El Hamus step into the roles of the
parents of the victim, Ihsane Jarfi, and the difference between amateur and
SUZY: I’m scared. professional actors collapses. La Reprise: Histoire(s) du théâtre (I), Milo Rau
and Ensemble. Ghent, Belgium, 18 January 2019. (Photo by Michiel Devijver)
(They kiss again.)

JOHAN: He’ll call tomorrow.

messing it up. I don’t know, it’s a weird feeling.
I’m going to sleep now. Even now, I can’t defend him properly. I feel
JOHAN: Sound? Are you ready? like a failure.

SUZY: Yes. JOHAN: During the trial Ihsane became the

accused. As if he had provoked this crime, with
JOHAN: Camera! something he said, or how he behaved with the
Go on Suzy. others. Some witnesses said incredible things.
They even went back to kindergarten to check
SUZY: I remember it very clearly. It was the if maybe he wasn’t guilty.
Tuesday after my birthday that my husband
Why did he get into that car? Because if he said
said: “Ihsane has disappeared.” He was
“Get out of here!” to the girl who was talking
kidnapped on Sunday and we found out on
to the murderers outside the Open Bar, it
Tuesday. I thought: “Disappeared? No.” It feels
means he could feel the danger. Why did he go
like you’re in a movie, and it’s all unreal. Like
off with them if he warned the girl off? That’s
they’re telling a story and I’m not in it.
the question that looms in my mind. He could
JOHAN: Then they found his body. have gone back into the café, or, I don’t know...
SUZY: When the trial started it was very We asked the lawyer, since we hadn’t seen the
hard for me. My husband gives lectures on autopsy report — we asked whether he realized
homophobia, he speaks publicly about the he was going to die. Whether he was still alive,
relationship he had with his son, about how he naked, in the night, in the rain. She said that,
had a hard time accepting his homosexuality. according to the doctor, he was unconscious
I want to keep him for myself. I don’t want when they left him. There are a lot of questions
Ihsane to be put on show. I don’t like people about what happened. Why did they go so far?
talking about what he did. It’s private. I don’t Why didn’t they stop? They could have given
like his life being on display. him a chance. A couple days later they went for
dinner in Maastricht with their wives. Their
When I spoke at the trial I didn’t express
lives went back to normal. They even went on
La Reprise

myself well. Talking in public like that...

holiday to the seaside...
Whenever I have to talk about him, I feel I’m

47
 SUZY: My husband, my daughter, even But still, on the way to the trial, I was expecting
his ex-boyfriend feel more than I do, I to be shocked. I don’t know... That they would
think. Because sometimes they get signs, give off some sort of negative energy. But when
manifestations. But Ihsane doesn’t appear to I saw their faces, that just dissipated... Because
me. Not even in my dreams. All I know is that they’re just morons. Assholes who let the
he’s not here, he doesn’t exist anymore. My situation get out of control. You could almost
husband is very religious but I can’t do it... feel sorry for them, that’s how pitiful they are.
People say: “You’ll see him again.” And I think: I didn’t even feel hate when I saw them. And
no, no, no... That’s the problem. I won’t see when their families came to testify, it was the
him ever again. We won’t see each other again. same thing, just normal people. Wintgens’s
father for instance... He’s a farmer, a country
JOHAN: Cut!
guy... He walks up, takes off his cap like he’s
How do you feel? going to Sunday mass, and he says: “If he really
did this, I’m not talking to him ever again.”
SUZY: I’m a little cold. It was so banal. That’s when you realize how
JOHAN: Let’s get dressed. stupid Ihsane’s death was.
The most frustrating thing is knowing that
Chapter II
I can’t feel what he felt. It’s stupid but, now,
The Pain of the Other when I go to the dentist, for example, if I’m
SÉBASTIEN: During the trial of Ihsane Jarfi’s afraid of the pain, I think of him. Not because
killers there was one character witness who it helps, but just to tell myself: “I want to feel
made a strong impression on me: Ihsane’s what he felt.” Those things bring me a little
ex-boyfriend. He spoke to the accused directly, closer to him. But I haven’t been able to feel
but not to say: “you bastards, you monsters!” the terror. I’d like to feel it the way he did, to
No, what he said was: “I’m going to try to share it with him, to relieve him of that a little.
describe the man you killed. He was a good During the trial, when they showed the photos
person.” He tried to explain to the killers and of Ihsane’s body, his family left the courtroom.
to the jury what it means when a human life I understand that they didn’t want to see that
disappears, how it hurts, how it is irreparable. but it bothered me that they left. I thought:
In his testimony he built a mausoleum for “He’s all alone, no one wants to look at him.”
his friend. So I forced myself to stay and look... I’ll never
During research for this play we met him forget: he was lying on his front, fully naked...
several times. He can’t forget because it was And I recognize him... I recognize the nape of
such a senseless death. Why did Ihsane leave his neck, his back, his buttocks, everything...
the Open Bar just then? Why did he get into They had destroyed him, his rib cage was
the gray Polo? Why did he have to suffer? crushed. It was very hard, but I didn’t want to
look away, I didn’t want there to be nobody to
(In the Open Bar. The birthday party. The camera
see him... Only the killers looking at him... And
follows JOHAN walking through the party.
the people at the trial, who weren’t connected
JOHAN talks with FABIAN (DJ). SARA and
to him. I wanted to be there for him.
JOHAN toast. TOM and SÉBASTIEN are
talking at the bar. SARA hugs TOM. TOM and SARA: What kind of music do you play
SÉBASTIEN kiss. TOM leaves.) normally?

SÉBASTIEN: He comes out of the Open Bar, FABIAN: Mostly electronic music, Aphex Twin,
he gets in their car, they drive towards the Autechre, and Paintbox.x, which is my own
wharves, they beat him up. On the way, near project. On Rock nights I play Iron Maiden,
Milo Rau & Ensemble

the stadium, they stop, put him in the trunk Nirvana, and Izuma, Suzy’s son’s band.
and keep going... And that’s when Ihsane prays,
SARA: What do you have for birthdays?
in Arabic, in the trunk... So he felt he was going
to die. He understood. He must have been FABIAN: Joe Dassin. It’s for old people, but it
terrified because he saw the evil in their eyes, works for birthdays.
the evil we couldn’t see during the trial.

48
Chapter III remember how they got to the Open Bar.
The Banality of Evil They had downed five or six bottles of scotch.
But he does remember what kind of music
FABIAN: I went to see Jeremy Wintgens at the
was playing. It was rap. He told me: “If it had
prison in Marche-en-Famenne. It’s 40 minutes
been my car, it would have been Rammstein or
by car from Liège. It’s one of Wallonia’s most
Marilyn Manson.” Outside the Open Bar they
modern prisons, very clean, but depressing. To
tried to pick up a girl, and that’s when Ihsane
get to the visiting room you have to go through
Jarfi intercedes. He approaches the passenger
a lot of doors. Cameras everywhere. His gaze
window and starts talking to Wintgens. Ihsane
struck me: eyes slightly reddened like someone
offers to take them to meet some girls and gets
who has been crying or smoking a joint, or who
in the car. Wintgens said he only hit him two
spent too long in the dark. He had a miserable
or three times. And that towards the end, when
gaze, like a beaten dog.
the others got out to undress and kill Ihsane, he
SARA: Have you ever played bad guys? stayed in the car. But that’s his version. I don’t
know. At one point he opened the door. Took
FABIAN: So far I’ve only played bad guys. some fresh air. Did he get out to join in? Or to
SARA: Why? stop them? He doesn’t know. It’s too cold. It’s
raining. And he does nothing.
FABIAN: Probably because of
my face...

SARA: How are you going to

play him?

FABIAN: I need a context, like

an argument for instance... Like
we did in rehearsal when we did
Wintgens’s birthday party. That’s
the scene that affects me the
most in this, weirdly. Everything
starts with two birthday parties.
Wintgens becomes a killer on
the night of his birthday. He
said to me: “You want to know
the truth?” I should have stayed
at home. I should have stayed
with my girlfriend, not gone
Figure 4. The murderers are shown on the center screen as they drive the
into town. I should have stayed car onstage. La Reprise: Histoire(s) du théâtre (I), Milo Rau and Ensemble.
at home.” Théâtre National, Brussels, May 2018. (Photo by Hubert Amiel)
Roll the video please.

(SÉBASTIEN is killing a jogger in

What struck me is that Wintgens’s life is a
Grand Theft Auto. SARA and FABIAN kiss for a
copy of mine: I lived alone with my alcoholic
long time. FABIAN gets more and more intrusive.)
mother until she died when I was 11. Wintgens
SARA: Give me the bottle. lived alone with his mother until he was 12.
Then I went to live with my dad. Wintgens
(She rips the bottle out of his hands. She stands up went to live with his. He became a bricklayer,
and leaves.) so did I. He had back problems and ended up
FABIAN: After the birthday party they unemployed, just like me. He had the same car
took off in the car. Parmentier was driving. as me. When I met him in prison, I told him all
They went into the center. Wintgens doesn’t this, that we had the same life. He looked at me
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49
 and said: “You’re lucky you’re doing this play. TOM: For sure?
It’s a great opportunity. Make the most of it.”
FABIAN: Yeah, don’t worry.
Chapter IV
(TOM steps in car.)
The Anatomy of the Crime
(In the Polo, SÉBASTIEN behind the wheel, FABIAN: Are we gonna get blow jobs at least?
FABIAN in the passenger seat and SARA in the TOM: Yeah by girls, guys, whatever you want.
back. SUZY at the window is talking to FABIAN.)
FABIAN: Guys? What are you, some kind of
SUZY: I’m in the Open Bar with some friends. faggot?
FABIAN: Well, come with us, we can have SARA: Get out of here!
some fun.
TOM: What the fuck? Is this guy for real?
SUZY: No, it’s my friend’s birthday, I can’t
What — you’ve never sucked a big cock?
leave her.
SÉBASTIEN: You want to suck a big cock? Is
FABIAN: Go and get your friend. We like to
that it?
party with pretty girls like you.
(SÉBASTIEN hits TOM first, and the others
SUZY: No I can’t.
follow.)
FABIAN: C’mon... You’ve got pretty eyes.
TOM: Stop... I want to get out... Stop the car!
SUZY: I’m sure I do. Why is it locked?

FABIAN: C’mon. SÉBASTIEN: You want to get out? You will

get out, don’t worry... (SÉBASTIEN stops the car,
SUZY: No. Some other time maybe. steps out and opens the door for TOM.)
(He tries to touch her breasts.)
SÉBASTIEN: Get out, princess.
Stop it! No.
SARA: Out! Out! Out!
TOM: Hey guys, guys, what’s going on?
SÉBASTIEN: Open the trunk.
FABIAN: We’re on chick patrol.
(SÉBASTIEN and SARA put TOM in the trunk,
TOM: I know a good place to have a good time hit him again and go back in the car.)
if you’re interested.
SÉBASTIEN: Fuck, a car! Move his feet.
FABIAN: With hot girls?
(SARA hits TOM in the trunk. TOM prays in
TOM: Yeah, yeah, don’t worry. Arabic.)
FABIAN: No beached whales? SÉBASTIEN: This isn’t a fucking mosque,
TOM: No, no. shut your face.

FABIAN: Where is it? SARA: Shut the fuck up!

TOM: Right behind Guillemins. (After driving for a while, they stop the car.
SÉBASTIEN and SARA pull TOM out of the
FABIAN: What’s the street? trunk.)
TOM: I don’t know the address. SÉBASTIEN: Fucking dog!
Milo Rau & Ensemble

FABIAN: Get in, you can show us. (SÉBASTIEN and SARA beat TOM up and
TOM: Yeah, but I’m at a birthday party. undress him. FABIAN gets out of the car, pukes
and gets back in his seat. SÉBASTIEN urinates on
FABIAN: Don’t worry, we’ll bring you back TOM, lying naked. The car is pulled back. Lights
afterwards. are back on stage. SÉBASTIEN finds the body.)

50
SÉBASTIEN: On May 1st
2012, International Workers’
Day, Ihsane Jarfi’s body was
found by a man walking his
dog. According to the medical
examiner the body was found in
a field, near a high voltage tower,
in the ventral decubitus position.
His body temperature was
14.3°C, the temperature outside.
At that moment the death of
Ihsane Jarfi became a matter of
public interest.

Chapter V
The Rabbit
SARA: During the rehearsals,
Figure 5. Tom Adjibi as Jarfi is shown in the trunk of the car on the center
we met Ihsane’s ex-boyfriend screen. La Reprise: Histoire(s) du théâtre (I), Milo Rau and Ensemble.
one more time. He came to Théâtre National, Brussels, May 2018. (Photo by Hubert Amiel)
the theatre in Liège. We had
just got back from a visit to a
blast furnace... I can picture it for a sign!’ And then she started concentrating
now — we were sitting around the table: Johan, again — look I’m just telling you what I
Sébastien, Suzy, Tom, Fabian and I... He said: experienced — she concentrated, and said:
“I just didn’t know how to deal with it. I ‘You’re going to come across something — a
had been to a psychologist... But you know, key ring, a rabbit’s foot...something soft, with
psychologists, they’re fine, but they don’t fur, something you can stroke... In two or three
always understand. Anyway that wasn’t what I weeks, a rabbit’s foot, you’ll come across it.
was looking for. I wanted a sign. A sign from I thought to myself: what’s that supposed to
Ihsane. So one day a friend said to me, ‘why mean? Two weeks later, I was in Italy with my
don’t you go to that woman?’ A clairvoyant. So new boyfriend, in Verona. It was a beautiful
off I went. She was a real ‘Madame Irma.’ And winter’s day, it was noon, bright sunshine,
I showed her a photo of Ihsane. I had brought amazing light! We were walking in the hills,
a photo that was different from the ones that everything was beautiful, idyllic, and an intense
had been in the news — he was wearing a hat, sadness came over me. I asked myself: why?
and had a huge smile; It was impossible to It is all too beautiful, too lovely. I thought
recognize him. She looks at the photo and says: about Ihsane all day. And next day, before we
‘He’s dead. I can feel it, everything is spinning.’ left, I was looking at postcards in one of those
So I shut down straight away and think: ‘she’s spinning racks. I was turning it and turning it
going to bring her box of tricks out now...’ But and suddenly — I felt something...something
she started going deeper, and she says: ‘was he soft. I look down and...it wasn’t a rabbit’s foot
b...b...beaten... They beat him up?’ And she but it was a soft fur key ring. At the moment I
looks up and she says: ‘They beat him to death.’ wasn’t surprised, I first thought, well, there’s
I said: ‘that’s enough, stop it — obviously you a whole row of these things — you find them
saw this on TV and you’ve recognized him.’ everywhere. But then I thought: When have I
But then she said: ‘I... Isha... Isha...’ and she ever just had one of these in my hand? Never!
told me personal things, words we used to And some time later, I was working in this
say to each other, things she couldn’t possibly restaurant, and every evening I went home
know. And well...I lost it... I was... I said: ‘I on my scooter, and every day I happened to
don’t believe you, this is a scam.’ I was quite pass the house where Ihsane and I used to live.
La Reprise

aggressive. I said: ‘I need a sign. I came here The road goes up steep, and every time, my

51
 scooter wouldn’t make it and would stop, I The raising of the dead from the stage’s
would go for the gas, but it wouldn’t make it. battlegrounds
And every time the trip seemed endless! One The straightening of wigs and fancy gowns
day I couldn’t face taking that same road every
time. Something broke in me, I said to Ihsane, Removing knives from stricken breasts,
I screamed it: ‘When am I going to be able Standing in a row with the living, and facing
to get on with my life? When is this going to the audience.
stop? When will I stop moping around!’ And Bowing, separately and together,
that very moment — believe it or not — a rabbit
Pale hand on wounded heart,
crossed the road.”
The curtsies of the hapless suicide
We’ve done five acts, as is the way. But there’s
a poem, that speaks beautifully about the sixth The incline of the chopped-off head.
act. It’s by Szymborska. Bowing, two by two,
“For me, tragedy’s most important act is Rage extending its arm to softness,
the sixth:
Victim smiling with executioner,
Rebel and tyrant stepping forward
together.
Eternity is trampled by a golden
slipper’s toe,
Morality swept aside with the swish
of a hat.
The irrepressible urge to do it all
again tomorrow.
Then come marching those who
died in earlier acts
The miraculous return of the
disappeared.
The idea that they have been
waiting patiently in the wings,
Still in costume,
Still in their makeup,
Moves me more than any tragic
monologue.”

JOHAN: Can you sing that song?

TOM: By Purcell?

JOHAN: Yes.

TOM: Fabian can you dance?

FABIAN: No, that’s why I’m a DJ.

TOM: Still, you are going to dance!

Milo Rau & Ensemble

Figure 6. Jarfi, played by Tom Adjibi, is beaten to death in front FABIAN: OK, but then with the
of the car in which he was taken to the outskirts of town. La Clark.
Reprise: Histoire(s) du théâtre (I), Milo Rau and Ensemble.
Théâtre National, Brussels, May 2018. (Photo by Hubert Amiel) JOHAN: Mist, please!

52
(TOM sings “The Cold Song” while FABIAN The actor climbs on the chair.
dances with the Clark.) He puts the noose around his neck.
TOM: Johan talked about the problem of He says that he is going to kick the chair away.
starting. How to enter? But I think the end is It’s the final scene.
even harder. How to end? How do you know
it’s over? Either someone will save him and he survives.
Or the audience doesn’t move, and he dies.
There is an actor.
There is a chair in the center of the stage. THE END

There is a noose hanging over the chair.

Milo Rau is director, writer, and since the 2018/19 season, Artistic Director of NTGent in Belgium. He
studied sociology, German, and Romance languages and literature in Paris, Berlin, and Zurich with
Pierre Bourdieu and Tzvetan Todorov, among others. Since 2002 he has released over 50 plays, films,
books, and actions. His theatre productions have been shown at major international festivals including the
Berlin Theatertreffen, the Festival d’Avignon, and the Venice Biennale, and have toured over 30 countries
worldwide. Rau’s latest film, Das Kongo Tribunal, was nominated for the German and Swiss Film Awards.
Hi writing has been translated into English, French, Italian, Dutch, Chinese and Norwegian, among others.
www.ntgent.be/en/

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