RECLAIMING THE FUTURE – An Essay

• A visionary, significant book on the power of art and the will to make a difference.
• The essay is based on the highly debated Zurich Poetics Lecture of 2022.

The future is bleak. What can, what must we do? Milo Rau on stagnation, protest, and engagement.

When Milo Rau directs, theater and activism become intertwined. For instance, he reinterprets the story of Jesus with African farm workers in southern Italy while simultaneously establishing a solidarity distribution center for tomatoes, challenging the mafia's dominance. In Brazil's Amazonas region, he brings a police massacre to the streets, highlighting the struggles of the landless. From performing with the World Parliament, where even plants and animals have a voice, to leading a tribunal against Swiss gold mining companies in the Congo, and reenacting the Moscow trials with Pussy Riot, Milo Rau has gained global recognition as perhaps the most influential theater director of our time.
In the fall of 2022, Milo Rau was set to deliver the Zürich Poetics Lecture, where he intended to discuss his creative process. However, the lecture transcended its original purpose, becoming a reflection on our current reality – a "total present" system that is often criticized but rarely accompanied by genuine desire or belief in real change.

In his essay, based on the lecture, Rau offers a powerful sociological-philosophical analysis. It not only ponders the situation but also provides guidance on how to resist the overwhelming injustices of reality. Rau urges us to break free from decades of stagnation and reignite utopian movements for a better future.

"Milo Rau is a genius." Die Welt

"Milo Rau is one of the most relentless and astute critics of our time: a visionary." Jean Ziegler