© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
© SLT / Christian Krautzberger
The Stranger
Albert Camus
German translation by Uli Aumüller
Stage adaptation by Murat Dikenci
Synopsis
“Man seeking meaning must feel a stranger in a meaningless world.” – Albert Camus
The story of a young Frenchman in Algeria who is made a murderer by a ridiculous coincidence was a literary sensation in occupied France in 1942 and became one of the most-printed French novels of the 20th century. The work marked Albert Camus’s breakthrough as an author and is today considered one of the main texts of existentialism.
“Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can’t be sure.” This is how Camus’s protagonist Meursault begins his story, in a few unemotional words. After the wake and the funeral in the country, Meursault returns to his unexcited daily life in Algiers. He perceives the details of his surroundings without taking a stand – neither on violence and injustice nor on love and connectedness. The offer of a career in Paris holds no appeal for him; he is satisfied with his life continuing as usual. His neighbour, Raymond Sintès, draws the emotionless man into a revenge story involving a former lover. When Meursault is blinded by the reflection of the sun on the knife of an attacker, he grabs a gun and kills the opponent with one shot. “I knew I’d shattered the balance of the day, the spacious calm of this beach on which I had been happy.” In its unsparing depiction of indifference, Camus’s work contains a plea for human compassion.
Albert Camus (1913–1960) is considered one of the most significant French authors of the 20th century. During World War II, he was the leading intellectual figure of the French Resistance against the German occupation. His work as a journalist is strongly influenced by the philosophy of existentialism. Camus received the Nobel Prize in Literature for his life’s work in 1957. He died in a car accident in 1960.
Murat Dikenci has been working as a director, dramaturg, curator, author, and actor on national and international projects since 2007. As a director (including at Schauspiel Hannover, Schauspiel Dortmund, and the Maxim Gorki Theatre), he combines literary material with a politically poetic aesthetic. His self-written play “The Avenged,” inspired by Albert Camus’s existentialist philosophy, was invited to the Radikal jung Festival in 2024. Since the 2023/2024 season, he has been directing and curating STUDIO Я at the Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin. “The Stranger” marks his first directing work at the Salzburg State Theatre.
Duration: 1 h 40 min. / no intermission
Selected performance
Fr 04/10/2026 07.30 pm
Performances
Tu 04/14/2026 07.30 pm Sold out
Su 04/19/2026 07.00 pm Sold out
Tu 04/21/2026 07.30 pm Sold out
Sa 04/25/2026 07.00 pm Sold out
Su 04/26/2026 07.00 pm Tickets
We 04/29/2026 07.30 pm Sold out
Tu 05/05/2026 07.30 pm Tickets
We 05/06/2026 07.30 pm Tickets
Th 05/07/2026 07.30 pm Sold out
Audio introduction
von Clara Bender
Cast (on 04/10/2026)
Director
Murat Dikenci
Stage and Costume Design
Florence Schreiber
Sound Design
Lukas Grundmann
Dramaturgy
Clara Bender
Assistant to the Director
Maria Magdalena Müller
Meursault
Maximilian Paier
Raymond, and others
Matthias Hermann
Marie, and others Naomi Kneip
Content Notes
Reviews
„Der Regisseur setzt für seine Theatralisierung auf eine Innenschau mit Wumms. Diese ist vor allem an Maximilian Paier geknüpft. Er ziseliert Meursaults Seelenregungen bis in die feinsten Nuancen und liefert ganz nebenbei großes Theater. Maximilian Paier arbeitet die Sachlichkeit und scheinbare Nonchalance des jungen Franzosen genauso sauber heraus, wie er später leidenschaftlich und lautstark die letzten Minuten vor den tödlichen Schüssen rekonstruiert.“
Dem Ensemble gelingt es Camus‘ düstere Geschichte in gut anderthalb Stunden überzeugend in den Zuschauerraum zu bringen. Meursaults beharrliche Indifferenz wirkt nicht quälend, sondern konsequent. Sein stoischer Protest gegen Spießermoral und religiöse Heuchelei kippt nur im Gespräch mit dem Gefängnisgeistlichen: Maximilian Paier lässt ihn Wut, Ekel, aber auch Angst herausschreien. Ein herausragender Moment!