Die Schutzbefohlenen

Theatre performance Die Schutzbefohlenen by Elfriede Jelinek, Nicolas Stemann, Thalia Theater, programmed in Holland Festival 2014.
Austrian Nobel prize winner Elfriede Jelinek wrote Die Schutzbefohlenen as a reaction to the increasingly acute and distressing refugee problem in Europe. Referring to the title and theme of Aeschylus’ classic text The Suppliants (in German Die Schutzflehenden), she gives voice to the defenceless asylum seekers, with her sharp pen ruthlessly exposing the cynicism and latent racism in European politics. The renowned German director Nicolas Stemann, who directed Jelinek’s play Babel at the Holland Festival in 2007, has reworked Jelinek’s indictment into an oratorio with a torrent of text and imagery. The production confronts us with a Europe which has never fulfilled its promise as a protector of human rights.