Caligula 2.0

A comic tragedy about war. In Europe. In our time.

We are in the second year of Emperor Caligula's rule, or the twentieth, it’s hard to say, it feels like a long time - a bit like when you are at the dentist's, waiting to pull teeth. Caligula is bored. What’s next for one of the richest and most powerful men in the world? Owning more than 700 cars (that haven’t been invented yet), having mistresses who fear him and total control over a rich continent doesn’t feel like enough to secure his name in the history books as the greatest emperor and tyrant the world has ever seen.

A special imperial operation to take over a neighboring country seems like a useful diversion, aided by a creative and eager system of propaganda. Meanwhile, the corrupt oligarchs tiptoe nervously around the lion's cages, applauding the gladiators, and the army generals watch the backs of their heads in fear of bullets from 9 mm «Gurza»pistols. Will Caligula manage to remain in power, as his empire gradually runs out of food and canon-fodder? Or is he about to face his final sunset, with only his favorite horse and newly appointed senator, Incitatus, for company?

With an international cast from Ukraine, Poland, Australia and Norway, Rolf Alme's latest play explores the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. As a director, Alme is known for using and «over-writing» the myths and stories of antiquity in order to comment on and illuminate the current state of the world. In «Caligula 2.0», he uses the historical figure of Caligula and ancient Rome as a framework for investigating Russia under Putin's reign and the subject of Putin's war, with its endless suffering and far-reaching geopolitical consequences. «Caligula 2.0» tells the story of a society built on fear and surveillance, moving between a past and a presence where the emperor’s totalitarian system is slowly falling apart due to endless wars and international sanctions. The tyrannical emperor Caligula will forever stand as the very image of the tyrant as a phenomenon.

SALT art & music, Oslo, 5th - 6th March 2024

Teatr Druga Strefa, Warsaw, 10th-11th May 2024

Theatre of The No, Athens, September 2024

Heraklion Impro Theatre, Crete, September 2024

Director and writer: Rolf Alme

Music: Christian Hestø

Cast: Piotr Misztela (Poland), Elisabeth Dahl and Christian Hestø (Norway), Tyrone Douglas (Australia) and Anna Darmoriz (Ukraine).

Running time: 90 minutes, no interval

Dahl/Hestø Productions

Funded by Fritt Ord and Fond for utøvende kunstnere