Idomenes, King of Crete, kills his own son as part of a promise to the gods. Or not. He may have allowed his son to live, but he incurred the wrath of the gods for himself and his country. Or perhaps the man he thinks is his son is an impostor. Perhaps his real son has been transformed into a talking, shape-shifting water creature. Or perhaps the truth is the first, the second and the third. In a play that mixes different versions of the myth and makes the heroes of antiquity resemble modern political leaders, Roland Schimmelpfennig reveals with subtle humour how the war between nations is replaced by a war between rationality and superstition.
The award-winning German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig (b. 1967) is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary European drama. He has also worked as a journalist, written librettos and works for radio and staged plays. His plays, including the well-known "Arabian Nights", "For a Better World" and "Woman from the Past", have been staged around the world.
All of Schimmelpfennig's plays are completely unexpected in terms of themes and form. The form of the works may seem confusing at first glance, but is in fact very precise and compact. It can be described as a kind of "dialogue choreography", and it instantly transports a real situation into the space of a dream or imagination. Also, his characters speak a particular language, a language of imagination rather than reality. The German artist's work blends archaic elements and magic with the everyday life of a modern city. Another distinctive feature is his ability to create a showy environment for his characters that is almost physically tangible for readers or viewers.
Idomenes, written in 2008, is based on ancient mythology, but it is easy to understand that it is about a contemporary world mired in strife and misunderstanding. As director Agnius Jankevičius says, the play reveals the vulnerability and limitations of modern man and shows the fiasco that ends the desperate attempts to control everything, both on a personal and on a state level. Another important theme for the director is the bewildering information chaos and the influx of liars. It becomes unclear what is being fought for and for whom. "Idomeneus" shows the myth-making mechanism at work in contemporary society, which does not care about the truth.
