The Stranger - Salzburg State Theatre

"The man striving for meaning must feel alien in a meaningless world." – Albert Camus The story of a young Frenchman in Algeria, who becomes a murderer due to a ridiculous coincidence, became a literary sensation in occupied France in 1942 and developed into one of the most printed French novels of the 20th century. The work marked the literary breakthrough for Albert Camus and is now considered one of the main texts of existentialism. "Today, Mama died. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know." – with these words, Camus' protagonist Meursault begins his story, terse and emotionless. After the wake and burial in the countryside, Meursault resumes his unexciting daily life in Algiers. He perceives details of his surroundings without taking a stance – whether it concerns violence and injustice or love and connection. An offer to pursue a career in Paris does not entice him; he is content as long as his daily life continues as usual. His neighbor, Raymond Sintès, pulls the unemotional man into a revenge story involving a former lover. When Meursault is blinded by the sun's glare on the blade of an attacker, he grabs a weapon and kills the opponent with a shot. "I realized that I had destroyed the balance of the day, the unusual silence of the beach where I had been happy." Camus' work contains a plea for humanity in its unflinching portrayal of indifference. Albert Camus (1913–1960) is regarded as one of the most significant French authors of the 20th century. During World War II, he was the intellectual figurehead of the French Resistance against the German occupation. His journalistic work is heavily influenced by the philosophy of existentialism. In 1957, Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his life's work. He died in a car accident in 1960. Murat Dikenci studied Applied Cultural Studies in Lüneburg. In Berlin, he gained initial theater experience. Since 2007, Dikenci has been active as an actor in film/television (including "Berlin Station," "Tatort") and theater (Maxim Gorki Theater, Schauspiel Köln). His first directorial work "Sesperado" was invited to the Youth Theater Meeting in 2017. Since the 2023/2024 season, he has been leading the STUDIO Я at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin.