The Pelicot Trial

About

Shame has to change sides.

The Pelicot trial is undoubtedly the most publicised and discussed, and also the most symbolic, of our time. As in a sociological study, it shows that in a perfectly normal Western European city – the small town of Mazan in the south of France, close to Avignon – perfectly ordinary men from all social classes and age groups are capable of perhaps the most extreme crime: the repeated rape of an unconscious woman. “Shame has to change sides.” Through these words and her decision to make her trial public, Gisèle Pelicot has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violences.

Extending her gesture to the theater, the oratorio by Milo Rau and Servane Dècle offers a documentary journey into the heart of the banality of rape and its legal treatment. Restaged in each city in the local language with a new cast of actors and public figures, The Pelicot Trial is a one-night scenic oratorio that pays tribute to an ordinary woman who opened the way to change.

WARNING: This production deals with sexual violence, rape, and the use of intoxicating substances. It contains explicit descriptions of witness testimony from the trial of Dominique Pelicot. Suitable for audiences from 16 years. 

Cast

Pavla Beretová, Jan Bidlas, Jindřiška Dudziaková, Josef Fečo, Antonie Martinec Formanová, Vojta Franců, Tomáš Jeřábek, Tereza Jarčevská, Daniela Kolářová, Lenka Krobotová, Šimon Krupa, Silvie Lauder, Barbara Lukešová, Radúz Mácha, Taťjana Medvecká, Klára Melíšková, Berenika Anna Mikeschová, Martin Myšička, Johanna Nejedlová, Václav Neužil, Jana Pidrmanová, Zdeněk Piškula, Zdislava Pokorná, Martina Preissová, Lukáš Příkazký, Apolena Rychlíková, Pavel Šimčík, Dominik Teleky, Ivan Trojan, Zai Xu and Zea

Creatives

Research, text and direction: Milo Rau, Servane Dècle
Project dramaturgy: Nastasia Griese 
Production of the original project: Wiener Festwochen
Dramaturgy Asisstants: Marta Ljubková, Linda Dušková
Translation: Sára Vybíralová

Servane Dècle is a french theater maker, dramaturge and performer who uses a multi-disciplinary approach to tackle urgent contemporary issues. Former civil engineer, Dècle gratuated in performing arts from Conservatoire de Nantes. She has been collaborating for several years with theatre artists Milo Rau, Simon Roth, and Clara Hédouin, among others. She also performs her own plays.

Milo Rau is Swiss director and author. He is the artistic director of the Vienna Festival / Wiener Festwochen / Free Republic of Vienna and from 2018 to 2024 Milo Rau was artistic director of NTGent. He has published over 100 plays, films, books and actions and his theatre productions have been shown at all major international festivals, including the Berlin Theatertreffen, the Festival d‘Avignon, the Venice Biennale, the Vienna Festival and the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, and have been touring in over 30 countries worldwide. Milo Rau presented his production Medea’s Children at the 7th Prague Crossroads Festival.

Accompanying photographies are from the French performance of The Pelicot Trial at the Festival d'Avignon (© Christophe Raynaud de Lage).