Mein kleines Prachttier

How can shame switch sides? Following “Fräulein Else”, Leonie Böhm continues her work towards establishing a dialogue and a different kind of coexistence beyond patriarchal structures of violence.

The story of a veterinarian and his ‘chosen one’ – a young farmer’s daughter – touches the limits of what can be said. It is a highly ambivalent introspection into a claustrophobic world. And it is a text that creates a space for the longing for words in a world of speechlessness and silence. The imagined perspective of a man who mercilessly confronts his own potential for violence becomes the starting point for a playful exploration by three women. How can we help shape the discourse on violence against women’s bodies and take responsibility for one another?

Director Leonie Böhm, known for her radical deconstructions of classical works, is returning to the Münchner Kammerspiele following her productions of “Die Räuberinnen” and “Yung Faust”. And this time, she is taking a contemporary text as her starting point. In her work, Böhm focuses on creating an intimate space on stage with her actors to explore different forms of living together – in a radically open and vulnerable manner.

“For me, the spectacular thing about “My Heavenly Favourite” is that an author imagines the perspective of a perpetrator which accomplishes something, i.e. it contributes to the way the addressed topics change the discourse and the way we think about the whole issue. This perpetrator’s perspective bares all, explains itself, puts itself up for discussion, attempts to put itself into words, attempts to recognise itself, attempts to make itself vulnerable. Putting oneself up for discussion, dragging oneself into visibility with all one’s thoughts, feelings and actions – that is the political act embarked upon by this book which, on the one hand, is fictional and, on the other, has actually changed my way of thinking.”

– Leonie Böhm