Rabih Mroué

Riding on a cloud

The latest work of the Lebanese director Rabih Mroué is a masterpiece of narrative theatre. It combines personal and political issues in an unspectacular way: Mroué's brother, Yasser, is the protagonist and the subject of this touching yet never sentimental performance. As a teenager he was shot in the head by a sniper and has since lost his capacity for speech and remembering. «Riding on a cloud» is an intimate and biographic collage from episodic film and text elements. The reconstruction of the events transcends the individual destiny and reflects on remembering and narrating itself: Was it like that? Could it have been like that? Or was it completely different? Where does fact end and fiction begin? The NZZ declared the performance «the highlight of the opening weekend» of this year's Festival Theater der Welt. (esc)