Geister in Princeton (Schauspielhaus Graz)

This review is for the World Premiere (Saturday, September 24th 2011) of Geister in Princeton, written by Daniel Kehlmann. This production was directed by Anna Badora and performed on the main stage at Schauspielhaus Graz.

Kurt Gödel (Silberschneider) und alter-ego (Widerhofer)

Complex story. Complex stagecraft. Watching this 100 Minute long modern tragi-comedy I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the story of Kurt Gödel, his theories and the ability of Daniel Kehlmann to put this all into a digestable piece of theatre. The centre of Gödel's theory is that we (and time) exist an infinate number of times; each version of us lives in different spheres of existance where our decisions always get made the same way, that our lives circle like a train. Sadly, I cannot explain his theory as well as the stage Gödel was able to.

The core theme of parallel lives was explored by the use of 4 Gödels: the main Kurt Gödel (masterfully played by  Johannes Silberschneider), a Gödel alterego (played by Rudi Widerhofer), the young Gödel (David Rauchenberger), and the Student-Gödel (Claudius Körber). Two or more Gödels often shared the stage at the same time, existing parallel. A good example is the Vienna Circle scene, where we see the Student-Gödel take part in a scholarly discussion on mathematics while the main Gödel watches (as if remembering his past self) or he's working out a mathematical equations on a board (as if the two worlds or time periods live parallel).


I find the idea of playing with our preception of time particularly fascinating when it comes to stage productions thanks our, the audience's, readiness to believe the various realities as living parallel as presented on stage. I was reminded of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, where the room of a country manor house is the set (very naturalistic) and in the final Act it is used by simultaneously by characters in the 1800s as well as the present. There are already essays and journals written on this idea of the Five Wall, aka time and the way theater explores the notion of parallel worlds. Unlike Stoppard, Kehlmann's piece is not ancored to a single setting to show us the Fifth Wall, instead we follow the main Kurt through various moments in time and experience his existance through the Fifth Wall. In Arcadia, a character from the past and a character from the present would drink from the same wine glass without any awareness of the other time period, they are walled from each other; however, we as audience get the benefit of seeing the place and objects as timeless.
In Geister in Princeton, we have the Student-Gödel courting his wife (who also was double cast, in this scene we had the older Adele played by Steffi Krautz), and in a later scene it was the younger Adele (Swintha Gersthofer) who gets courted by the main Gödel while being watched by the Student-Gödel. In both scenes, we readily accept the scene as being authentic and real, in other words: not a recollection that's being illustrated for the audience, but rather a dialogue between Gödel and Adele happening for the first time and we just happen to see it. We accept the idea that Gödel is Gödel regardless of age, he can be timelessly used within a scene just like Stoppard's wine glass. Even though the 'timeless' Gödel did manage to catch my attention as being something post-modern, I must say having the story generally follow a normal cause-and-effect timeline in connection of the main Gödel proved to make the piece less exciting.

End of the Vienna Circle scene

Post-modern theatre pieces tend to work very cyclical, just like Gödels theory. Yes, there was a lot of cyclical story telling: we saw certain characters or sections repetitivel. The best example of cyclical story telling in this piece is: Prof. Schlick - acted by Dominik Warta-, who is in a discussion with the Student Gödel, but in the background we see a body double of his get shot, then the Vienna Circle scene where real Schlick actually get shot and the main Gödel as well as Student-Gödel are present, and finally the desceased Schlick who haunts the main Gödel later in the piece. Although this proves to be cyclical, it also proves to be cause-and-effect story telling. It makes me wonder what effect would the story have had if perhaps these three Schlick events had been told none-linear, would the audience not be able to understand and therefore deam the show as unwatchable or would we the piece be even more chaotic, post-modern and subsiquently effect with regards to the central theme?

As for the stage design, a glass wall that at a moments notice, could be turned opaque was the main trick employed by the director. The glass wall divided the entire stage so that only the downstage playing area put the actors in the same room as the audience. Very risky because isn't it the fact that actor and audience are in the same space that makes theatre special, interesting and effective? I must admit at some points the glass got in to way, I would find myself getting bored with all the acting done behind the screen. However, most of the time scenes would switch between being behind the scene and in front so that the audience wouldn't feel cut off from the actors.

As for the acting, the actors were well cast and each helped the story be told. Stand outs are definately the main Gödels and Einstein (played by Hans Peter Hallwachs). But to be fair ensemble members like Franz Solar,  Franz Xaver Zach or Simon Käser added humor to the performance that with its complexities had a tendacy to become too heavy.

All in all, it was an interesting evening but not necessarily for everyone. The ideas presented in this piece are oftentimes very complex and meant for an adult audience. The Schauspielhaus also offers a small introduction exhibition on Kurt Göbel found in the 3. Rang, which is definately a worthwhile read before watching this production.

Overall - 6.5/10

Theaterfest 2011/2012 (Schauspielhaus Graz)

The Schauspielhaus Graz had a large Theaterfest to mark the start of their 2011/2012 season. The ensemble and crew of the Schauspielhaus, as well as some guest actors, took part this evening of theatre and celebrations. 

There was a properties auction, a speed dating session with characters from productions from last year, an automatic hotdog machine, games for youngsters and two preview shows. The preview show showed us about 10 minutes of the various productions set to premiere within the next two months and there were introductions to some of the other shows set to play in the house. The preview show was wittily moderated by Steffi Krautz and Sebastian Reiß in a variety show manner. 

I really liked the idea of introducing a theatre's season is such a way because it builds excitement for the season and the company. It's almost like a pep-rally for theatre. This goes to show how invested the subscribers of the Schauspielhaus are in their theatre. I wish we could see something like this in Canada....but allas, we have a different theatre culture.

Restmüll (Theater am Ortweinplatz)

This review is for the Wednesday, September 21, 2011 performance of Restmüll by Ko van den Bosch. The production was directed by Manfred Weissensteiner and performed at the Theater am Ortweinplatz, Graz.


Two child actors and one seasoned professional. That was the cast of Ko van den Bosch's Restmüll, a realistically absurb play about two young brothers who have been living without a father or mother for six years. Gustav, the older brother, is the man of the house and spends his time either watching tv, sleeping or eating. With his bright red hair. Gustav, played by Jakob Soukup, is bold, opinionated, witty, street smart and a big-talker. On the other hand, younger brother Boris (Clemens Joham) is curious, gullable, well-behaved and brave. Both boys were well cast and contrasted each other well; although, credit must be given to Soukup who acted with such procision that some acting students at any creditable university haven't even achieved yet. He effectively showed a child who is the big guy when he knows what he is talking about, but the second he is in unfamiliar waters he becomes a massive scaredy-cat.

Boris (Clemens Joham) and Gustav (Jakob Soukup)

As for the professional in the cast, Christian Ruck played a very effective Vater-in-denial. The father of the two boys hide himself in the living room sofa to get away from the sad reality of his deceased wife. Though emotionally closed, the hippie-like father goes through the years collected everything the boys lose to the sofa, even things like toe-nail clippings or farts. The sofa is a brilliant metaphor for ones own mind, the father chooses to close himself off from the children because of grief, the children are forced to go on with life and prematurely become adults. This piece is very relavant to a child from today who may have a deceased parent or parents who get divorced and then close themselves off to their children. Gustav is unwilling to forgive his father at first, but Boris, perhaps because he is younger and more open-hearted, managed to remind their father of his duty to his family. Here Gustav finally recognizes his father as someone who didn't abandon his family to hurt them, but rather because he couldn't deal with life itself. The brothers make it clear to their father that a father, even one who isn't perfect, is better than no father at all.
This is an excellent play for young and old and because the principle characters are played be children it may be more accessable to a younger audience. The dialogue was very witty and the story was well thought out. My only major critic is that the story could have been told much faster. For the majority of the piece a line was said and then characters acted and then the next line was said. If actions and lines could have been incorporated more the piece would have flowed much better.

Overall - 6.5/10

Der Zerrissene (Pascal Productions)

This review is for the production of Der Zerrissene written by Johann Nepomuk Nestroy and performed by Pascal Production in Schloss Traun, Upper Austria.

I saw this production back in August and was the only summer theatre I managed to see. Nestroy's pieces are notorious for being untranslatable into the English language because the pieces are so full of Viennese humor very specific to the time period in which the playwright lived and wrote. Therefore, I found it interesting that the director, Ursula Ruhs, decided to set the play in the here and now with a few allusions to the Vienna of times past (the old style Bauernhaus - Farm house). I suppose this was done to translate the piece for a modern audience, so that we would understand the joke and that it wouldn't seem like a museum piece. Although, I must say I would love to see a Nestroy play like a Restoration play, with accurate costumes and everything - but that's just me.

 

As for the cast, all were perfessional, but not all were able to catch the attention of the audience. Title characters did well to tell the story, and it's quite clear that the lead Herr von Lips, Daniel Pascal, carried the show. I felt the show started off rather slow and somewhat dull until the wonderfully witty monologue of Herr von Lips as the zerissenen. Also, the second act started somewhat slow, as if the change of set put a peg into the actor's energy, but then the lively dialogue between Herr von Lips and Krautkopf got the audience back into the piece and laughing heartily. Costumes and set design was ok and it worked for this production. All in all, it was an enjoyable evening and I think such a theatre company is an asset to a suburb like Traun. For a private company I must say the production was well done.
I am definately interested in seeing Pascal and Ruhs' next project!

Overall - 7/10

Trying to stay impartial

Hello all,

You were probably wondering, hey what happened to the reviews? Simply put, it's hard to objectively write about productions when you start to get to know people involved with the production company.

I have decided to change my format a little bit for the upcoming reviews. I will simply write a review and not grade the individual segments of the production but rather give an overall out of 10 rating.

Happy Reading,
Victoria