Bart Bijnens

It is election night. Oedipus is on the verge of a massive victory. The country has not known a leader for many years since Laius' death. The ambitions are great. Oedipus wants to create a future, create a new way of life. He also insists, if elected, that the investigation into the death of his predecessor is reopened. In the meanwhile, in the half-empty campaign headquarters, Oedipus is surprised by his family - mother, wife and children - with a dinner. An old incident is thereby brought up. Gradually, Oedipus discovers that his past is very different from what he has always thought. During his research, the pieces of the puzzle fall together. Oedipus tries to control his fate, but discovers that he has been seeing blind all along.

Ivo van Hove's direction of Les Damnés had its world premiere as the opening performance of the Festival d'Avignon. This theatrical adaptation, based on a film script by Italian film director Luchino Visconti, shows how a family of rich German industrialists is fatally corrupted by its collaboration with the Nazi party that has come to power. Family patriarch Baron Joachim resists and is liquidated. The struggle for the succession leads to an escalation of intrigues and manipulations, betrayal and murder.