Ukraine’s theater play Caligula, directed by Ivan Uryvskyi, will represent Ukraine at the prestigious performing arts Avignon Festival (Festival d’Avignon) in France this July, according to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy.

Caligula, a Roman emperor from the Julius-Claudian dynasty, has long been synonymous with extreme cruelty, tyranny, and impunity.

The play is based on the interpretation of Caligula’s persona by French writer Albert Camus, posing questions like, “What is true freedom? At what price is the freedom of an individual acquired? What turns a person into a being who loses dignity and honor? What can a person with unlimited power do?” 

“The theme of dictatorship needs to be talked about and worked with. This is a story about how humanity repeats its mistakes, but we need to remember them so as not to repeat them again“ said the play’s director. 

He believes the play draws parallels between the tyrannical reign of the Roman emperor and the Ukraine’s fight for independence against Russian imperialism.

The scenography immerses the audience in a metaphorical prison, reflecting the surveillance and control characteristic of totalitarian regimes, while also touching on Orwellian themes of truth manipulation and the erosion of individual freedoms.

Ivan Uryvskyi has been a director at the Ivan Franko National Theatre in Kyiv since 2020, staging performances like The Witch of Konotop by Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko, Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and The Fortuneless Maiden by Ivan Karpenko-Kary.

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