Milo Rau & Édouard Louis: The Interrogation

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

“The Interrogation is a meditation on failed liberation, on doubt and failure, on the powerlessness of theatre (art) to change the violence of the world.” – La Libre Belgique

“Édouard Louis is that relatively rare thing – a novelist with something to say and a willingness to say it, without holding back.” – The Times

“Milo Rau is currently the most interesting artist in Europe.” – De Standaard

ABOUT THE WORK

The Interrogation is a raw, intimate collaboration between director Milo Rau and writer Édouard Louis, blending personal testimony with urgent political critique. The work unfolds as a stark monologue that revisits moments of violence, class shame, and queer identity in contemporary France. Rau’s minimalist staging amplifies Louis’ searing honesty, creating a space where personal memory becomes collective reckoning. Together, they interrogate not only the past but the structures, social, familial, and theatrical, that shape how stories are told and heard. The result is a powerful meditation on truth, power, and the act of bearing witness.

PRODUCTION GUIDANCE
The Interrogation is performed in Dutch with English surtitles

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Milo Rau is a Swiss director, writer and filmmaker. Critics call Rau the “most influential” (Die Zeit), “most awarded” (Le Soir), “most interesting” (De Standaard), “most controversial” (La Repubblica), “most scandalous” (New York Times) or “most ambitious” (The Guardian) artist of our time. In projects like The Congo Tribunal, La Reprise, Orestes in Mosul, and The New Gospel or School of Resistance, Rau posits that theater does not have to be detached from society but that it is a necessary contribution to politics, culture, and society – a place to tell true stories that shape our society. After six years as artistic leader at NTGent, Rau was appointed as new curator of the Wiener Festwochen in Vienna. The 2024 season will be his first as curator. Rau remains on board at NTGent as house artist.

Édouard Louis is the author of four novels, The End of Eddy, History of Violence, Who Killed my father and Struggles and Metamorphosis of a Woman. He is also, with Thomas Ostermeier, the co-author of the play At the heart of violence and the editor of a book on the social scientist Pierre Bourdieu. He is a translator of the Canadian poet Anne Carson and he regularly collaborates with artists, such as Ken Loach, James Ivory, Stanislas Nordey, and now Milo Rau. He considers literature as a weapon. His books have been translated into thirty languages and have made him one of the most celebrated writers of his generation.

NTGent (or Nederlands Toneel Gent) was founded in 1965 as the city theater of Ghent. As a city theater, NTGent wants to question, motivate and rouse a diverse audience. it does so by making and presenting high-profile productions and by mobilizing theatre for social debate. It presents its own theatre productions as well as guest productions, touring in Flanders, the Netherlands and internationally.

CREATIVE CREDITS

Text: Édouard Louis & Milo Rau
Direction: Milo Rau
Performance: Arne de Tremerie
Dramaturgy: Carmen Hornbostel
Director assistant: Giacomo Bisordi and François Pacco (on tour)
Technical direction: Jens Baudisch
Light design: Dennis Diels and Ulrich Kellermann (on tour)
Sound and video: Jens Baudisch
Production Management: Mascha Euchner–Martinez and François Pacco (on tour)
Translation: Erik Borgman, Kaatje De Geest and François Pacco

An IIPM production – coproduced by NTGent and ITA – International Theatre Amsterdam; originally commissioned for the Kunstenfestivaldesarts