Meat Loaf, Britney and the ‘Cancel Culture’ Musical


HAMBURG, Germany — “For the five and a half hours I spent outside”die soulOne of the 10 productions selected for Theatertreffen this year, a performative installation “” (“The Calm”), I put a live worm in my mouth, cut a lock of my hair and held a giant African snail.

I attended a group therapy session where a violent doctor forced us to share our secrets and fears and drank bitter mushroom tea (hopefully not psychedelic), vodka, and schnapps.

Along with 34 other ticket holders for that day’s performance in Hamburg’s Altona district, I checked in as a prospective patient at a fictional facility for people weary of modern life.

Simultaneously candid and visionary, “Die Ruhe” was by far the most extraordinary and daring play by Theatertreffen, the extraordinary first live performance since the start of the pandemic. Celebrating the best of German, Austrian and Swiss theater, the festival, after spending the past two years online, has been revived in Germany with an extensive and eclectic series highlighting the creativity, resourcefulness and permanence of German theater. 2021.

First staged here by the Deutsches Schauspielhaus theater “Die Ruhe”, SIGNA, a Copenhagen-based performance collective It is directed by artist couple Signa and Arthur Köstler, who have specialized in large-scale, site-specific performance installations for the past two decades. SIGNA had previously been invited to Theatertreffen in 2008 for an eight-day performance held at a former train station in Berlin. This time the installation was too complex to be transferred to Berlin, where all other Theatertreffen performances take place, so in a break with tradition, “Die Ruhe” was installed in the old post office in Hamburg, where it was first seen. in November.

Along with other members of my small group, I was guided through an ominous sanatorium whose inhabitants—patients and doctors—all seemed to have suffered a psychological breakdown. After entering the post office, we were asked to lie down on the cushions on the floor and were taken to the institute. Soon we stripped off our clothes and put on the institute’s loose-fitting uniform of gray hoodies and sweatpants.

As Aurel, a fragile and haunted guide, is guided with the group through dim corridors and rooms – including a simulated forest filled with moist earth and dry leaves – the institute turns out to be the center of a menacing and shamanistic sect. . On multiple floors of the post office, SIGNA and its large staff (there are almost equal numbers of paying contributors and institute members) formulated a holistic worldview for the cult-like institute; The mild-mannered Aurel was fanatically devoted: her vision of the return from Heaven, symbolized by merging with the forest.

Aesthetically, this stylishly designed immersive experience seemed to be inspired by the movies: from recent dystopian horror films, including Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Lobster” and Ari Aster’s “Midsommer”, as well as masters of atmospheric horror Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch. .

As a marathon thrown into a complex and intricate world, “Die Ruhe” looked like a recent and more infamous project: the science institute DAU designed by Russian filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky In the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine between 2009-2011 Recreated in Paris in 2019. Like this controversial performance, “Die Ruhe” contained deeply disturbing elements: a strong, pervasive atmosphere of threat, as well as a challenging (and sometimes exhausting) format that forced the audience-participant into uncomfortably close confrontations with cruelty, manipulation, and violence. .

Back in Berlin, none of the other Theatertreffen shows I watched came close to “Die Ruhe” in sustained intensity and surprising originality, but the productions I captured were consistently high-caliber and officially innovative.

One of the most striking features of the series was how deeply and cleverly musical many of the shows were. In many of the best plays, live music played a fundamental role in creating an original aesthetic as well as meaning. While thinking so musically about theatrical practice, it seemed that many directors at the festival were pushing the limits of language.

Hummed by the cast of Britney Spears and Meat Loaf hits Christopher Rüping, “Das neue Leben – where do we go from here” by Barbara Morgenstern by Helgard Haug “Well. GoodnightA hypnotic and mostly nonverbal production about 2014 Malaysia Airlines disasterThis Theatertreffen seemed to insist on the primacy of music to both enliven and enrich intellectual and emotional states.

The most surprising single show on a traditional stage is Claudia Bauer’s “humanistää!”, a surreal and dazzlingly creative exploration of poetic and dramatic texts by experimental Austrian writer Ernst Jandl.

Bauer One of Germany’s leading directorsand he created this breathtaking theatrical immersion in Jandl’s playful linguistic universe at the Volkstheater in Vienna, where the poet was born, where I watched the production a few months ago. (Remains in the company’s repertoire and is also available To stream on Theatertreffen’s website until September.)

In “Humanistää!”, 10 of Jandl’s works take on new vitality through traditional monologues, stage projections and elaborate vocal performances reminiscent of Jandl’s radio plays. Bauer rounds off the flood of highly musical texts with startling visuals and energetic performances that fit beautifully to the rhythm of Jandl’s audio poems.

Eight actors perform lively and highly choreographed pantomimes and dances. Patricia Talacko’s shape-shifting set, spectacularly illuminated by Paul Grilj. Throughout, Peer Baierlein’s lively propulsive music accompanies the performers as both their bodies and voices twist in Jandl’s linguistic plays.

Text and music by Israeli director Yael Ronen “Slippery SlopeAn English-language musical about cancellation culture with infectious songs and foul lyrics by singer-songwriter Shlomi Shaban. When it premiered at the Maxim Gorky Theater in Berlin in November, it immediately caused a cult sensation. It’s not hard to see why.

The plot about a disgraced Swedish pop star (Lindy Larsson) and her protege (Riah Knight), whose rapid rise is inversely proportional to the fall of her mentor, is both miserable and wildly entertaining.

Moreover, the five actors in the show can really sing – a real rarity in German theaters – and they sing Shaban’s exciting and cheeky tricks with pleasure. For perhaps the first time I can remember, Broadway-caliber musical entertainment came to a German dramatic stage. (The only production of a Berlin repertory theater at the festival.)

Cultural appropriation, political correctness, #MeToo debates, and social media trolls are all slightly distorted in a glamorous and overly compelling production. At the same time, everything is so ridiculous and absurd that there is little danger of anyone being offended by this rough and punchy musical burlesque. While its themes are urgently relevant, “Slippery Slope” treats them with a lightness and wit that is rare in theaters here. I’m glad that the Theatertreffen jury, a high-minded group of taste creators, chose him alongside the festival’s more flattering entries. It’s a sign of their belief in theater’s ability to surprise, provoke, and yes, entertain.

theatertreffen
Until 22 May, at various cinemas in Berlin and at Ambalajpostamt in Hamburg; berlinerfestspiele.de.



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *