The Root of Being - Academy Theater Vienna

German-language premiere
Translated by Uli Menke

Talyani Waqar Malik exists in five different versions. His five selves are spread across the world: In Beirut, he is the owner of a jeans store; in Rome, a Ferrari-driving neurosurgeon; in Quebec, a successful artist; in Paris, an unambitious taxi driver; and in Texas, a death-row inmate. Each place of residence, each environment, and every experience shapes a new identity, a new character, a new personality.

The trigger for the story is the explosion of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate in August 2020, which destroyed the port of Beirut and damaged large parts of the city. The play follows the five Talyanis and their families during the following week, illustrating how the catastrophe resonates in their lives.

Almost twenty years after his unforgettable production of BURNING, Stefan Bachmann turns to Wajdi Mouawad's new play and the question of the possibilities and constraints of our existence.

Directed by: Stefan Bachmann