Albert Camus’ THE STATE OF SIEGE at ArtsEmerson

Written by Nobel Prize–winning author Albert Camus, staged by leading avant-garde French director Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota and produced by the celebrated Paris theatre company Théâtre de la Ville, The State of Siege is set to take the country by storm this fall on its first visit to the United States. The rarely staged work, penned in 1948, weaves a tale of paranoia, endurance and political struggle resulting in a dizzying modern metaphor. With a renowned ensemble working on an epic scale, The State of Siege (L’État de siège) explores how art can serve as a way to process – and to resist – human atrocities. What role can art play in the face of peril? Faced with imminent danger, can the human spirit remain focused on the beauty of life?

ArtsEmerson: KISS

When a young, aspirational theatre troupe discovers and performs what they believe is a Syrian soap opera, they come to realize just how much they got wrong. Kiss is a brilliant play-within-a-play that shows how misunderstanding cultural cues can reveal blind spots you never knew you had. Chilean playwright and director Guillermo Calderón brings his masterful sensibility to this intense, tightly wound new production where naiveté can turn out to be the kiss of death.