About the work
The State of Siege is a play by Albert Camus that grew out of a joint plague project with the actor-director Jean-Louis Barrault, who had also been drawing on Antonin Artaud's thoughts on the plague. It premiered on 27 October 1948 at the Théâtre Marigny in Paris, directed by Barrault, with sets by Balthus and music by Arthur Honegger.
Plot
Plague breaks out in the Spanish city of Cádiz; an allegorical dictator called "The Plague" installs a totalitarian regime of bureaucratic terror, against which the young Diego rebels.
Cultural significance
Chorus, pantomime and allegorical figures combine into what Camus called a 'modern myth' about illegitimate, totalitarian power, with recognisable allusions to Nazism and Stalinism; despite its elaborate staging, the premiere was a failure, and the play remained Camus's least performed stage work.