tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4481691725314537521.post380312002555120416..comments2023-09-20T14:34:21.102+02:00Comments on Postcards from the Gods: Das Himbeerreich – Deutsches TheaterAndrew Haydonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05568061302451610140noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4481691725314537521.post-8766918652509384322013-10-20T23:50:33.956+02:002013-10-20T23:50:33.956+02:00Just been to see this at DT, with English surtitle...Just been to see this at DT, with English surtitles (thank god) & was also struck by its not-very-German-in-form-ness. V text heavy, v unexpected. Have to disagree with you somewhat re the heart of the piece. Is it not less about "cracking open the world of the banker" / understanding the financial crisis in and for itself, but rather a (perhaps underdeveloped) attempt to use documentary to start thinking outwards from the specificities of this crisis? I.e. what is teh relation of this particular crisis to crises in general, to war, to catastrophe, to reconstruction, to accumulation, to the production of value? Lines about how 'the war enabled the building of universities', 'gold teeth extracted from the mouths of Jews', all the recollections about fathers and childhoods post-WW2, etc. And then the questions raised personal responsibility and complicity, which seemed to me to go beyond the usual greedy-individual-bankers vs its-the-system-man commentary.<br /><br />Tbh, as a theatrical experience I found the play a bit, well, dreary on the whole, but there was a moment of real electricity and tension tonight with Ulrich Matthes's monologue on how it is the placid majority, the ones who don't dissent when a wrong is being committed, who are the most treacherous, the biggest threat ("They sneak up behind you in the dark and stab you in the back") and then, I think quite soon after, he comes right up to the edge of the stage and, with incredible ferocity, challenges the audience: "So why don't we stand up? Why don't we get more angry?". At this moment, the quiet, sober, thoughtful and tastefully rich Germans around me burst into loud extended applause. Firstly, I can't imagine this reaction in an equivalently bouji venue in London. Secondly, in this moment, the exchange between Matthes & the audience just didn't feel as though it were only about bankers and their excesses... What can an audience really do, in that moment, to such a challenge? It felt somehow charged and frustrated and bathetic. Maybe I'm over-reading...<br /><br />Fyi, here's a great review, which more eloquently describes this moment (& with a v different mood of audience): http://kantinengespraeche.blogspot.de/2013/02/das-himbeerreich.htmlTanyahttps://twitter.com/hgnisaynatnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4481691725314537521.post-3722139737631574292013-10-11T12:50:28.540+02:002013-10-11T12:50:28.540+02:00Allo,
No. I didn't/haven't seen it yet. ...Allo,<br /><br />No. I didn't/haven't seen it yet. I did see 30 Cecil Street though, which I think was sort of the same idea (recorded voices, same dancer/creator). And, no, I guess it didn't make me feel at all uncomfortable, although as soon as you mentioned it, I thought of a raft of reasons why it could... :-/Andrew Haydonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07615226061116376519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4481691725314537521.post-77448513811287390252013-10-11T12:09:05.230+02:002013-10-11T12:09:05.230+02:00Have you seen 'Ours Was The Fen Country'? ...Have you seen 'Ours Was The Fen Country'? Only verbatim piece where I didn't feel uncomfortable (saw it at NT Shed)- felt like the adoption or presentation of voices/words/recording was always highlighted and conscious. It managed to make it simply what it was (the things people in the Fens say when asked questions about what they think of the Fens) rather than a political speaking on behalf of or anything like that. Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05701610851663907907noreply@blogger.com