Compassion. The History of the Machine Gun by Milo Rau

Date/Time
Date(s) - 08/03/2018
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Location
BMICH

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About 

The theatre play “Compassion. The History of the Machine Gun” will be presented on 8th March, 7.00 pm at BMICH in Colombo and you are merely invited! Free invitation cards (while stocks last) can be purchased at Goethe-Institut in Colombo during the opening hours.

“Compassion. The History of the Machine Gun“ is a play, that deals with the impossibility to help. The stories of two actresses, one a victim of the Genocides in Africa, the other a witness, show the paradoxical perception of sorrow and pain, which now and then face empathy but at the same time complete disregard. The development aid worker, portrayed by Ursina Lardi, finally has to recognize how cynical the compassion aesthetics of the west really are – a result, which is confirmed by Consolate Sipérius, who was born in Burundi and after the Genocide in 1993 raised in Belgium. The performance, that is based on Interviews with NGO-workers, priests and war victims in Africa and Europe, consciously enters challenging terrain: How do we endure the misery of others, why do we watch it? Why does a dead person at the gates of Europe weigh more than 1000 dead people in the Congolese civil war zones? Can compassion have boarders? The award-winning director Milo Rau takes the spectator on a journey to those people who live beyond the focus of the European compassion industry and asks: Who sees us if we suffer?
“Compassion. The History of the Machine Gun“ was first performed in 2016 at the renowned German theatre Schaubühne in Berlin and has since then toured all over the world with stops in Moskau, Paris, Prag and many more. We are very happy to welcome the promising play to Colombo and looking forward to a fulminant evening, that you should not miss!

To attend the play you need to pick up the invitation card (for free) at Goethe-Institut Sri Lanka.

There will be ENGLISH subtitles.

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