On August 6, 1945, an American bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. On board were six naval aviation officers. Read on stage by Geneva-born actor Philippe Lüscher, the 1953 short story by Soviet writer Vasily Grossmann recounts the 24 hours of this crew that plunged humanity into a new era. With what guilt? "Abel, Abel, where is your brother Cain?" asks one of the soldiers. This text, based on the confidences of the plane's real pilot, conveys in just a few pages the terrible banality of an act and its effects on consciences.
Vassily Grossman (1905-1964) is one of the major writers of the 20th century, notably the author of Life and Fate, centered on the Battle of Stalingrad, often compared to Tolstoy's War and Peace. Philippe Lüscher: Actor, author and director of numerous plays, Genevan Philippe Lüscher (1959) directed the Théâtre du Grütli from 1999 to 2006 and taught drama at the Conservatoire populaire de Genève since 1988.
