Albert Camus’ »Der Fremde«. Ein Musiktheaterprojekt [Lecture/Artist Talk]

Elnaz Seyedi & Ehsan Khatibi & Johannes Abel

In their musical theater project, »The Stranger«, Elnaz Seyedi, Ehsan Khatibi, and Johannes Abel achieve an artistic synthesis that takes up the core themes of Albert Camus’ homonymous work. Their musical theater piece is expected to have its world premiere in April 2025 at the Mannheim National Theater.

The artists have brought out three central motives that permeate Camus’ work: death, being separated, and light. They take the compositional material—including the exactly described noises and lighting conditions—directly from the novel, and thereby establish an immediate connection to the literary original source. But they also thematically address the reversal of the classical motif of light as a way to knowledge. Death reappears in different forms: the mother’s death and funeral at the beginning of the novel, the murder scene, and the protagonist’s execution. The artists have then taken this triple manifestation and structured it into three scenes. Finally, the idea of being separated is reflected on different levels, and together with the theme of light forms the foundational motif of the stage design.

The video material provides insights into the project’s workshop. The artists will present their ideas to the audience in an open dialogue.