Caligula

Synopsis

Written in 1938, a young Roman emperor comes face to face with the terrible lack of meaning in the universe after the senseless death of his beloved sister Drusilla. In order to teach the world the true nature of life, Caligula goes on a murderous spree, killing his subjects indiscriminately. After this act of rebellion fails, he chooses to court his own assassination.

Our Review:

1 May 2003

"Everything is permissible if God does not exist," wrote Jean Paul Sartre, "and as a result, man is forlorn because neither within him nor without does he find anything to cling to."

Within the wide-ranging 20th-century canon of existentialism, Albert Camus explored his own doctrine of alienation and the 'absurd', most famously in his novel The Outsider, his essay on The Myth of Sisyphus and in this, Caligula, his play about the blood-obsessed Roman emperor. His damning verdict on life's only real truth is summed up in the words of Caligula: "we die and we are unhappy".

So, even if the play's title doesn't conjure up pornographic images of Malcolm McDowell from Gore Vidal's infamous 1979 screen version, it's little surprise that it makes for distinctly uncomfortable viewing. In fact, Michael Grandage's superb production, of David Greig's fluid new translation, makes for one of the most disturbing - and yet utterly compelling - even...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (193.130.127.205) - 10 June 2003:

Another superb production at the Donmar... and an astonishing performance by the brilliant Michael Sheen. You're moved, amused, enthralled and appalled by his Caligula - silently menacing, raging, desperate, thoughtful and (as Venus) very camp. A tour-de-force. Andrew B...

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