Articles

Repetition, Theater, History(ies): A Study of Milo Rau's La Reprise:  Histoire(s) du Théâtre (I)

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Abstract

"Repetition and recollection are the same movement, only in opposite directions; for what is recollected has been, and is repeated backward. Real repetition, however, is recollected forward." On the play's programme and later at the beginning of the published text of Milo Rau's La Reprise: Histoire(s) du Théâtre (I) (2018), these words by Søren Kierkegaard from his work Repetition (1843), in French also La Reprise, are quoted. As the first production created in alignment with the Ghent Manifesto and part of the Representation Trilogy, this play shares its title with Kierkegaard's work, using the fait divers of the tragic death of the young Ihsane Jarfi to explore the essence of theater rather than focusing on a specific historical event, as is common in much of Rau's work. Rau himself has acknowledged the connection between the work and Kierkegaard, yet it remains underexplored. Still, the title and subject of this particular work raise the following questions for us: what is repetition (reprise) in Kierkegaard's sense, what is its relationship to theater, and how does the concept serve as the starting point for Rau's exploration of the (hi)story(ies) of the theater? By exploring three theatrical terms related to "re," répétition, représentation, reprise, this article starts with examining the repetition in the framework of theater and its history. While analyzing the actor-character relationship in performance, this article further explores how the repetition in Kierkegaard resonates with Rau's reenactment in La Reprise and his reflection towards the past and the present.

Keywords: repetition, Milo Rau, reenactment, double, history

How to Cite:

Zhang, K., (2025) “Repetition, Theater, History(ies): A Study of Milo Rau's La Reprise:  Histoire(s) du Théâtre (I)”, Documenta 43(1): 6, 161–179. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/documenta.93842