Video: LOWEST OF THE LOW Trailer Released Ahead of Arcola Theatre UK Premiere
The docu-opera draws on a journalist's two years posing as a migrant worker in 1980s West Germany.
A trailer has arrived for Lowest of the Low, a documentary opera receiving its UK premiere at Arcola Theatre. The clip offers a glimpse into the stage adaptation of Günter Wallraff's exposé memoir Ganz Unten, forty years after its original publication shook Europe with its account of migrant labour exploitation.
The production dramatizes Wallraff's real-life undercover investigation, during which the German journalist disguised himself as a Turkish migrant worker in West Germany for two years, embedding himself in the hidden world of migrant labour to expose the exploitation, racism and harsh conditions faced by workers. The docu-opera features music by Turkish composer Tuluğ Tırpan and examines the everyday encounters and ethical questions surrounding Wallraff's undercover work, revisiting his methods through a contemporary lens on cultural appropriation and asking what drove his transformation into another identity.
Lowest of the Low is scheduled to play at Arcola Theatre from August 12 through 15, 2026, marking the work's first staging in the UK.
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