Caligula

By Albert Camus. Translated by Justin O'Brien

Having survived a bloody and dangerous childhood, his family savaged in the power struggles of Rome, young Emperor Caius Caligula begins his reign with gentleness and duty. Then his beloved sister, his last living relative, dies suddenly. Tortured by loss and loneliness, and disgusted by the fatted, shrewd and power-hungry senate, Caligula imposes a ruthless ideology: to "put an end to lies, and liars".

"All that is required is to remain logicalto the bitter end."

Albert Camus' classic Caligula tells the story of an intelligent and restless young man, forced to reassess the value of his existence, and that of an Empire. Written whilst a great tide of radical ideologies was sweeping through Europe in the 1930s and 40s, the play explores the nature of personal freedom versus social responsibility, and exposes the dangerous attraction of extreme ideology to the emotionally displaced.

Young company Talon Arts present a bold new exploration of Albert Camus' absurdist epic Caligula, in a translation seen for the first time in England.
Talon Arts is a collective of young professionals working in the performing arts. Caligula marks their London debut.

Complimentary organic chocolate will be available to audience members courtesy of Green & Blacks.