In a total work of art, Kentridge unites elements from theater, surreal chamber opera, and visual art. With drawings, collages, film and masks as well as music, dance, and acting, a multifaceted narrative emerges that dissolves the boundaries between reality and fiction. The piece addresses flight, merging questions of the past with the crises of the present.

In the production, the audience accompanies a fateful sea voyage in 1941. A ship sets sail from Marseille towards Martinique – inspired by a real escape from the Vichy regime, which collaborated with National Socialism. Kentridge draws on the history of the “Capitaine Paul Lemerle,” a converted freighter that left France in March 1941 with about 350 refugees and reached Martinique in April. Onboard the real ship were significant figures such as the writer Anna Seghers, the surrealist André Breton, and the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss. Kentridge expands this historical journey with imaginary passengers, including personalities like Frantz Fanon, Joséphine Bonaparte, Joséphine Baker, Trotsky, and even Stalin.

This “Ship of Fools” becomes a symbol for movements of flight and forced expeditions of past and present times. An allegory of artistic and social utopias – a ship leaving Europe in search of freedom. Kentridge creates a visionary work in which he transcends the boundaries of visual and performing arts, reflects on colonial history, and advocates for human rights.