The Outsider (by Camus)

The Outsider is an existensialist novel (1942) written in French by Algerian philosopher, author, and journalist Albert Camus (1913-1960) [1].

See also: The Outsider by Dorothy Brandon.

The original text

L'Etranger

Translations and adaptations

French actor Theo Trifard adapted Albert Camus's classic 1942 novel as a multimedia production.

Performance history in South Africa

Absolutely riveting theatre was to be found on the National Arts Festival Fringe, 1998, in the multimedia The Outsider. No flying sets - just a bench. a tin bucket, a plate, a tub, video projection on a bare wall and an actor. Nicky Rebelo deftly directs French actor Theo Trifard in this collaborative work which is successfully designed to bring a total theatre experience to schools, prisons and any performance space. Trifard and his tall expressive body and face bring the imprisoned office worker Meursault to life. His thoughts and memories are projected on the wall, realising what the condemned to death prisoner says: "They can take away your freedom but not your memory."

The video directed by Lea Jamet features English (with a South African cast) and French soundtracks. Camus' existential treatise on life, his take on the individual trapped within social tenets, is realised not didactically but inventively. This collaboration, which premiered in Reunion, will be performed in French prisons and in the National Theatre, in Paris, from October.

Sources

Review by Adrienne Sichel, Pretoria News, 15 July 1998.

Review by Laetitia Pople, Beeld, 14 July 1998.

The Outsider theatre programme, 1998.

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