Theatre
Roberto Zucco
Bernard-Marie Koltès · 1990
Synopsis
The play opens with the escape of a young man, Roberto Zucco, then with his return to his mother's home, where he kills her. Elusive, he then flees, changes place and crosses paths with a series of characters, among them a very young girl who falls in love with him and an elegant lady, in brief scenes that take him as far as the metro. He kills along his way with no motive appearing, and the play makes no attempt to give him one, making him a kind of shooting star.
Context
Koltès wrote the play in 1988, after seeing in the Paris metro the wanted notice for Roberto Succo, a young Italian murderer, and refused to learn more about the case. He never saw it performed: Peter Stein staged it at the Schaubühne in Berlin in April 1990, a year after his death. The French premiere, by Bruno Boeglin at the TNP in Villeurbanne, took place at the end of 1991, and the performance planned in Chambéry was cancelled under pressure from victims' families.
Who it is for
Fifteen short scenes, few stage directions, a highly literary language; a violent play, to be reserved for adults.
Prizes and reception
Translated into English by Martin Crimp, it was performed in 1997 by the Royal Shakespeare Company and published by Methuen Drama.
Sources for this page 7
The pages consulted to check this page.