In »The Seer«, Ursina Lardi plays a war photographer who travels to conflict areas around the world in search of images of dread. She always seems one step ahead of the suffering and horror, and at the same time untouchable. But then she is forced to experience what violence means first-hand. The celebrated war photographer becomes a bitter Cassandra fighting against the blindness of our times. We witness the darkness and loneliness, the cynicism and wisdom of a person who has seen it all.

This new play by Milo Rau is based on the life stories of war photographers, Iraqi citizens and his own experiences, such as his encounter with the teacher Azad Hassan in Mosul, whose hand was cut off as punishment during the occupation by the Islamic State. Inspired by Sophocles’ character Philoctetes, who loses everything after an injury and is banished from society, Rau probes the fragility of our certainties. Why is violence so seductive? What remains when war and terror have destroyed the world as we know it? What happens to us, the world, art, when we are witnesses
to the suffering of others and earn money from it? What does it mean to be a witness? Can art alleviate suffering?

Milo Rau, born in Bern in 1977, is the artistic director of the Vienna Festival | Free Republic of Vienna. As a director and author, he has published nearly 100 theatre plays, films, books and activist projects. His theatre productions have been invited to the Berliner Theatertreffen, Festival d’Avignon, Biennale di Venezia, Vienna Festival and Brussels Kunstenfestivaldesarts, among others. From 2018 to 2024, Milo Rau was the artistic director of NTGent (Belgium). Following »Mitleid. Die Geschichte des Maschinengewehrs«, »LENIN« and »Everywoman«, »The Seer« is Milo Rau’s fourth production at the Schaubühne.