The New York Times: Telemachus tries to hang himself with a video game controller, Helen of Troy poses heroically on a tank, and Zeus emerges from a dumpster disguised as a rat. These are a few of the startling sights in Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson and Mikael Torfason’s “An Odyssey,” which recently ushered in the 2019-20 season at the Volksbühne here.
3 comments:
I have to say that the concepts for all of the shows demonstrated surprised me greatly. Each had their own central focus and style obviously but as a collective, there was a certain underlying something that I can't put my finger on. It felt as if all the shows have that special twist that connects them together. Maybe its the sense of intrigue they evoke. I'm not sure. Each show takes what most would view as a very steep and conceptually variant approach to, in some cases, plays that have a certain repetitive reproduction history. Being unfamiliar with Berlin theaters I'm very curious about if their shared love for unconventional plays hasa cultural factor or if the author chose to highlight these shows for their individuality and also their unity of divergence. The author's comments about the directors of the Volksbuhne, while giving insight into the overall climate of theatre in Berlin felt out of place in this article and I wish it had either been explored in a way that those not knowledgeable about the directors of Berlin would better understand the context of the opinions.
International theatre has always fascinated me, and especially German theatre. The German theatre scene, as a whole, is far less commercialized than in America, and that, in turn, sets up a fertile ground for experimental new works to develop and be produced. German theatre also has this almost unidentifiable quality that Magnolia pointed out, this web of experimentalism and also disconnect that weaves through their works. Stemming from Brechtian theater, many German works are designed and developed to discourage emotional attachment from the works themselves, and instead aim for reflective detachment from the audience, in order to better understand the message and impact of the piece. Taking this article through a Brechtian lens makes everything make more sense, and gives the weird German theatre pieces context. Some of the productions detailed in the article take hints from classic, famous shows, while putting a fantastical and often disturbing spin on them to make them barely recognizable.
I love this, especially because I love classic texts and love how a company can be really clever in how they choose to interpret and display this classic story in a new and relatable way. As with most classic texts, The Odyssey has many issues as a piece of writing. However, it's such a sweeping epic of a story, that it would be a shame to discard it completely. I enjoy the trend that started a few years ago to revitalize this story in particular, and Greek myths in general. Last year, Emily Wilson became the first woman to translate The Odyssey, and her interpretation had more than a few social commentary undertones, beginning with her new translation of the first line of the poem: Tell me, O Muse, of a complicated man." It goes from there. I think that these re-interpretations can call out a lot of really important issues regarding economic, societal, and environmental politics, and I'm happy to see theatre artists taking up that challenge. I also think that this was a really smart move to make for this theatre, especially if they had been experiencing difficulties staying open. Go for the risk and the new take, you don't have anything to lose more than before you started.
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