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Research, dramaturgy and direction
Milo Rau & Servane Dècle
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Place
PKiN / Sala Rudniewa
Plac Defilad 1
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Date
5 November 2025
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Duration
4 h (no intermission)
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Tickets
45 zł
About the performance
This case shook the whole of France. In the small southern town of Mazan, “ordinary men” (as the French press called them) — of different ages and backgrounds, holding various social roles, including husbands, fathers, and even representatives of public service professions — repeatedly raped an unconscious woman.
That woman was Gisèle Pelicot, and the brutal assaults were initiated by her own husband. Gisèle chose to make her court trial public, exposing the most painful and intimate experiences of her life. This unprecedented act of courage finally shifted the burden of shame: from the victim to the perpetrators. Her stance sparked public empathy and solidarity. Gisèle Pelicot became a leader of change, a symbol of the fight to end violence against women, and a source of support for survivors of all forms of violence, not only sexual.
The public trial inspired theatre director Milo Rau and Servane Dècle to stage a performative reading of the court proceedings. The script opens access to the testimonies of Gisèle and the accused men, revealing their backgrounds, stories, motives, lines of defence, and their social and psychological circumstances. The audience is invited to experience the atmosphere of a courtroom. The Pelicot Trial exposes the mechanisms of oppression and violence that sustain a patriarchal system—one that harms not only women but also men.
The first performative reading of The Pelicot Trial took place at the Wiener Festwochen, followed by the Festival d’Avignon. On 5 November, the next reading will be presented in the Rudniew Hall of the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, featuring the ensemble of TR Warszawa. Further readings are planned in Lisbon, New York, and Berlin.e.
Cast
Łukasz
Gawroński
Agnieszka
Podsiadlik
About the creators
Research, dramaturgy and direction: Milo Rau & Servane Dècle
Assistant Director: Wojciech Sobolewski, Monika Tuniewicz
Production: Małgorzata Cichulska, Magda Igielska, Urszula Musiał-Kozłowska, Aleksandra Szklarczyk
About the director
Milo Rau (born 1977 in Bern) is a Swiss theatre and film director, playwright, essayist, journalist, and theatre theorist, widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary creators of political theatre in Europe.
He studied sociology, German and Romance studies in Zurich, Berlin, and Paris, where he was mentored by intellectuals such as Pierre Bourdieu and Tzvetan Todorov. Rau began his career as a journalist, reporting on political events in Mexico and Cuba, and since the early 2000s has been increasingly active as a theatre director. In 2007, he founded the International Institute of Political Murder (IIPM) – an artistic platform dedicated to the production of theatre performances, films, installations, and documentary projects, often reconstructing major political and historical events.
Rau’s work is marked by strong social engagement, formal radicalism, and a deep analysis of mechanisms of power, violence, and collective responsibility. His most significant productions include The Last Days of the Ceausescus – a reenactment of the trial and execution of Romania’s former rulers, Hate Radio – about a radio station that incited genocide in Rwanda, La Reprise. Histoire(s) du théâtre (I) – based on a brutal murder in Liège, Orestes in Mosul – a Greek tragedy restaged in the war-torn Iraqi city, and Antigone in the Amazon – a reworking of the classical play in the context of Indigenous rights and environmental conflict.
From 2018 to 2023, he served as artistic director of the NTGent theatre in Ghent, Belgium, where he developed the manifesto “The City Theatre of the Future,” advocating for radically opening the stage to real-world social issues and involving local communities in the creative process. Since 2023, he has been the artistic director of the prestigious Wiener Festwochen festival in Vienna.
Milo Rau has received numerous international awards, including the European Theatre Prize in the category “Theatrical Realities” (2018), and his productions regularly appear at Europe’s most important festivals – from the Berliner Theatertreffen to the Festival d’Avignon and the Venice Biennale. His work, often provocative and controversial, raises fundamental questions about the ethics of representation, the boundaries of fiction, and the social function of art.
The Pelicot trial is a project of Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna in cooperation with Festival d’Avignon
The world premiere took place on June 18th, 2025 within the Vienna Festival | Free Republic of Vienna
Partnership:
