Performative Theatre Co. presents a fresh, thought-provoking reimagining of French philosopher Albert Camus’ Caligula. First written during the Second World War, the play explores truth, purpose, and the absurdity of life in ways that feel startlingly modern.

Camus’ first full-length play follows the reign of Caligula, newly appointed emperor of Rome, faced with the absurd. Haunted by the death of his sister, the emperor grips the meaninglessness of his own mortality with both hands.

In the face of his discovery that nothing means anything, he yearns for something not of this world, setting out to teach all of Rome his final truth: “people die and they are not happy.”

As the moon rises on Caligula’s unravelling, we bear witness to assassination plots, poetry competitions and the Goddess Venus herself.

How much can Rome learn from a tyrant with a lust for the impossible?