EUROPA

About the show

Silence—crimes left unspoken.Trauma’s legacy resurfaces across generations. Wars, genocide, and the massacre of civilians proceed without pause. The world falls silent at the sight of yet another, ever more brazen crime—then forgets. Life goes on; impunity prevails, inviting further killers to act. In his theatre, Krzysztof Warlikowski probes responsibility and guilt, tracing modern conflicts back to Greek tragedy. Taking up a text by one of his emblematic authors—the European Prize for Dramaturgy laureate Wajdi Mouawad, Europa’s Pledge—he widens his field of inquiry to territories shaped by inherited trauma. Here the darkness seizes us all: without exception, we are entangled in traumatic events, whether on the side of victims or of perpetrators. Even if we took no direct part in those dramas, guilt descends on us like a curse; it leaves its mark. Every contemporary massacre is woven into a primordial order of killing that reaches back to mythic time. It summons the violent myths of the gods—divine acts of rape bound to desire for the human body—that underwrite those narratives. Now imagine old Europe—at times awash in blood, at times observing from a distance the abattoirs unfolding across the world. Can you really feel innocent? And remember: you are accountable for what you feel.