Caligula

The Roman emperor Caligula copes with the death of his sister and concubine Drusilla. The loss of a loved one changes Caligula, directly affecting his relationship with those around him and his view of the Roman Empire. Caligula begins to languish, to “disturb the peace of Rome”. He doesn’t just become capricious, he starts killing: countless hypocrites, sycophants and their innocent relatives lose their lives. It becomes clear that the emperor, who displays the motives of a serial killer, is a man struggling with the absurd – and that the killings are a sophisticated way of educating those around him. The play ends with Caligula’s moral downfall and his double confession – to his mistress Caesonia and to himself. Caligula is left in a state of borderline insanity on a pile of human bones, in a world completely destroyed and gnawed away by death.

With its dramatic action and the protagonist’s ambitious cold-bloodedness, the play is still striking to this day. It forces the audience to reflect on the relationship between the government and the individual, to pay attention to the present-day context. Camus’ work remains relevant: it addresses people’s experiences and relations with authority, while exploring moral dilemmas in the contemporary world. Caligula himself is a character with a seemingly cultivated sense of inner anxiety and dissatisfaction with the state of modernity. He seeks to purify existence itself – to baptise it with fire. Here, the Roman ruler is a figure searching for a new path, for radical change, brought about by cleansing the old world with blood. As both environmental problems and international conflicts become ever graver, Caligula is an invitation to reflect on how personal and political will can influence the fate of the planet.

“The performance is set in a theatre café. It is a vague in-between zone, a microcosm where waves of reality and illusion converge. Caligula’s actions, like an artistic feud, reveal the dark side of human nature and consciousness. Not only does he raise questions, but he himself embodies the connection between human beings and celestial bodies. In the labyrinth of freedom, Caligula is a hostage who celebrates martyrdom as liberation, proclaiming that true existence can only be revealed through suffering. Such an interpretation produces a formula where the opposites – courage and fear – fall like columns on a man’s feet, crushing them as Caligula enters the world. He is a man exploring the dark space of theatre, where mimosas, illuminated by stage lights, blossom as a sign of an inscrutable storyline,” says the director, Jokūbas Brazys.