Missed Windows – On Historical Gaps, Adaptation and Courage

Lizzy We’re looking back to 1926 when the Kammerspiele moved to Maximilian Straße. It was a time when the looming threat of fascism was already hanging over everyone’s heads. The Kammerspiele, which was trying to stand its ground, would eventually become Hitler’s favourite theatre. How did this trajectory unfold? It begins on the opening night in 1926 with the production of “Dantons Tod” directed by Otto Falckenberg.

Marie I’m inspired by things that tend to fall outside the established canon. The same was true of Valeska Gert: a grotesque dancer who, under the name of Canaille, embodied a prostitute in a dance that caused quite a stir. In the canteen of the Münchner Kammerspiele, she encountered Brecht and asked him: “So, what exactly is this ‘Epic theatre’?” To which he replied: “It’s what you’re doing!” I love the title of her 1926 work, “(Berliner) Verkehr”, partly because I find the German word ‘Verkehr’ (traffic/contact/intercourse) so fascinating. It always carries a sexual connotation that really chimes with Valeska Gert and her sense of humour. One hundred years later, we’re creating the Munich version of her piece and dancing the street traffic of this city. Our play is a grand homage to this remarkable woman who was once a member of the Kammerspiele ensemble.

Felicitas We began by discussing contemporary issues, the sticking points in our time: youth violence, mass shootings, murders, the media and violence, the pressure to achieve, the loss of empathy. This led us to Ödön von Horváth, a writer whose plays I’m actually less interested in than his prose. “Jugend ohne Gott” (“Youth Without God”) contains striking parallels to the themes I just mentioned, the vulnerabilities of young people and questions regarding the future and radicalisation. Horváth’s story intersects with that of his teacher protagonist. How far has he compromised himself by conforming? Does he still believe that society can be changed? What values ​​is he passing on? Is he still able to speak the language of the younger generation and how does he connect with them? These 14-year-olds are being taught how to shoot and are being trained for war.

Viola We’re also presenting a fourth opening-night premiere, about the Jewish writer Grete Weil. Her husband was a dramaturge at the Kammerspiele and was among those ejected by Otto Falckenberg. Edgar and Grete Weil’s was a great love story. They fled to Amsterdam where, in a house next door to Anne Frank’s, Grete Weil wrote a novel while hiding behind a bookcase. She survived the war and eventually returned to Munich. It was only at the age of 74 that she finally received artistic recognition in Germany, not at any time before.

Theresa For both Horváth and Valeska Gert, the art of observation plays a key role. Horváth sat in taverns and listened; Valeska Gert observed the crossroads. Could you elaborate on what looking back into the past means as a starting point, and what kind of material lends itself to such an approach?

Lizzy What I find cool about your projects is that, at least as I understand it, we’re all searching for the gaps and for ways to make them visible. What do we know more about today, and how do we engage with that? As artists, we have the opportunity once again to shine a spotlight on these aspects on our stage and say: “Look! Here’s something that’s truly special and important for today, for us.”

Henrike What was it like 100 years ago? The seizure of power came in 1933 but what became of the people? We can simultaneously look into the past and the future.

Viola The Kammerspiele’s artistic director, Otto Falckenberg, complied with the decree to immediately sack all foreigners. How did the then-head dramaturge, Wolfgang Petzet, as well as Falckenberg himself, endure during this period which other staff members paid for with their lives? In 1937, they staged a second production of “Danton”. And then there’s a sort of ‘tribute album’ celebrating Falckenberg’s artistic genius that was published in 1944, at a time when everyone already knew the full truth. These are elements that feed directly into the question: What is the role of art in a society that is no longer free?

Theresa Valeska Gert was directly affected by these developments: as an artist, she was forced into exile. The same applied to Horváth, who wrote his way into exile. Lizzy and Henrike, as Post Paradies you work with texts in a collaborative and play-based manner. Marie, you typically work without spoken text, or with it but in a highly stylised way. What does looking back mean for you in terms of translating material into an artistic form?

Marie What I love so much about the performative arts is their ephemerality. Documenting dance is complicated; in our research, we’ve had to rely on what people wrote about their viewing experiences. There’s no existing notation for these dances. We know they most likely featured a traffic accident. We know that the dance lasted approximately five minutes. We know that it shocked audiences in some way. We can only form an idea of it based on these impressions – but that, in turn, grants us an immense amount of freedom for our interpretation. We’re drawing inspiration from Valeska, taking the performers out into the streets and gathering material.

Viola Horváth was an ambivalent figure. As a sensitive person living in his time, what did he see?

Felicitas His observations find direct expression in his texts. Horváth often wrote under the influence of drugs or alcohol. I find that interesting because the era a hundred years ago was heavily informed by extreme contradictions and formal experimentation. Horváth’s own creative process was rather trippy and not driven by rationality. He railed against reality, writing: “What kind of generation will this be? A tough one, or merely a brutal one?” And: “For truth and justice, against lies and stupidity.” Or, when describing the young people in his novel: “Do they possess a soul, or is this the Age of Pisces?” These are, in part, surreal images: a journey inward, a confrontation with the self from someone who always considered himself to be an outsider, both in Munich and later, during exile, in France.

Viola You’re taking a rather poetic approach. But in fact, much like with Valeska Gert, Horváth’s biography is one of expulsion and exile. We haven’t even got to talk about “Danton” yet. We’ve been discussing the 100 Years theme this whole time but there is, of course, also the connection to the French Revolution – or rather, how Büchner was looking back on it from Germany in 1830. What was your way into that, Lizzy?

Lizzy Our hook is ‘missed windows’. In the theatre, we can do things historians can’t, for example, like leaning a little more in the direction of ‘what if?’. In “Danton”, we see a character who initially took part in the revolution and helped instigate the first wave of violence. In September, at the beginning of Büchner’s play, he’s fighting for some latitude while Robespierre and other hardliners are aligning against him. Danton has a moment where he speaks out and takes action. Everyone keeps telling him: “You have to explain it better, you have to speak out.” We felt it’s important to show that these voices advocating a different path did actually exist. Because that sense of paralysis or of being at the eleventh hour feels so omnipresent in these times of crisis.

Theresa Is the observation of traffic in your production rather more mundane than the dramatic tipping points of historical characters?

Marie Traffic laws are a social contract for safety. The way they’re observed reveals a great deal about our society’s adherence to rules. Sometimes, that actually provokes me. How important is it for people to also go against the tide?

Theresa On the day of our concept meeting, I was riding my bike across the Reichenbach Bridge and a swan had brought traffic to a complete standstill. How do you react? Who is the first to call for help? Who looks away?

Marie Valeska Gert inspires me to dare take a closer look; to elevate something that people perceive as mundane to the level of art.

Felicitas The dichotomy between conformity and resistance is also a theme in our production of “Jugend ohne Gott”. Drawing on the group dynamics of adolescents, we’re scrutinising our increasingly performance-driven society. When should you keep your head down and when is it good to take a stand? On the one hand, we all need rules, rituals and structures for everything to hold together. But where does conformity begin? At what point does one stop thinking freely? Where does fascism begin?

Theresa Where, actually, does the instigation of a movement come from? I find this question interesting on many levels – choreographically and politically.

Henrike In our plays, we always construct specific points, such as this 100-year anniversary, where we’re taking a date and remembering. But, afterwards, do we simply carry on as before? How can a culture of remembrance become something that registers itself in a different way?

Theresa What does ‘collectively devising a play’ mean? Are these questions reflected in that process?

Henrike Lizzy is the director within our collective but we all develop the concept together. We work with ‘acts’: the performers are invited to present their own theatrical ideas during rehearsals.

Theresa I consider this sense of personal responsibility as a working method during a time of crisis to be very valuable.

Felicitas The process as a group is also enormously important to me. I regard the actors to be essential artistic partners with whom I embark on a shared journey. When we have the feeling that we’re deluding ourselves, we stop and risk trying something different.

Theresa Your descriptions of your work processes already represent alternative models to the historical structures.

Marie You enter this profession with a lot of pressure and high expectations. But by now, what matters most to me is that we maintain a positive atmosphere in our daily interactions. I firmly believe in the theatre. This authenticity, this genuineness, what people call the ‘productive spectator’ – theatre is unimaginable without these things.

Felicitas I feel that sitting together in the theatre has a democratic quality. What is it other than the reality that’s constantly visible before our very eyes, the things we’re grappling with in our everyday lives?

Lizzy Not a picture or something carved out of marble – theatre is something coughing, loving and alive. It can sometimes even be a little clumsy and unfinished. That’s what I love about these live moments.