Between everyday scenes and references to high culture
The theatre collective Nico and the Navigators adapts the seminal long poem "The Waste Land" for the stage
When the long poem "The Waste Land" by the American author T. S. Eliot was published around 100 years ago, the First World War and the Spanish flu were only a few years old, leaving the world reeling from the horrors it had experienced. In addition, a global economic crisis was causing people to struggle. The poem itself had also gone through a tough phase. Reflecting the reality he experienced in form and rhythm, it was Eliot's writer friend Ezra Pound who contributed to the final version of the now world-famous poem with his radical creative suggestions.
War, pandemic, recession - it's almost astonishing how relevant the poem still is today. Nico and the Navigators thought so too. Founded in 1998, the ensemble is now one of the most important musical theatre groups in Europe. With their current production "Wasted Land", which premieres on 30 March at the Radialsystem, Nico and the Navigators refer directly to the literary source. It helped that Nicola Hümpel, co-founder of the ensemble with Oliver Proske, has known "The Waste Land" since her school days.
"On the one hand, the literary quality of this poem is beyond any doubt - and on the other, it speaks to us directly and topically thanks to the themes it deals with," summarises the artistic director and director of Nico and the Navigators.
The evening navigates through the complexity of the original
To transform the poem into a scenic-musical production, the team first looked at the many musical allusions that Eliot himself wove into his text. They range from the onomatopoeia of Richard Wagner's operas to folk songs and ritual chants. But the rhythm and sound of the language also inspired the artists to create atmospheric moods and passages, which in turn influenced the scenic processes. Using this diversity as a basis, the ensemble developed its own composition that frames the piece and sets accents. "There are moments in which the language takes over the leading function - and other sections that are purely instrumental," explains Nicola Hümpel. The combination of guitar, drums, violin, trumpet and electronic elements gives the group a wide range of musical expression. A large and essential part of the production and the music was created during rehearsals.
Even though Nicola Hümpel is the one who ultimately creates the overall composition from the fragments, the spoken word performance, dance and video projections, she emphasises that the development of the piece was a collaborative task. In terms of acting, the ensemble works with so-called guided improvisation. The actors receive instructions for their actions, which they incorporate into their improvisation. A method that offers plenty of scope for the surprising and sometimes enlightening. "This unknown, unconscious", explains Nicola Hümpel, "can only be achieved in this way - with suggestions or reflections that lead to the discovery of the radically unique." And a method that seems predestined for the scenic realisation of T. S. Eliot's text. Ultimately, the aim is to look behind the irony, which is merely a stylistic device to speak more easily about the true state of the world and the resulting hopelessness: "This explains the associative element, i.e. the linking of historical and mythological allusions in the text with Eliot's time - and then again with our present in the production," explains Nicola Hümpel. This faithful examination of such an extensive literary work was very special, she adds.
Introduction to the literary source by the translator
However, it is crucial that you don't have to know the literary original to understand the play. "Wasted Land" not only recites Eliot's "The Waste Land" in full, it also leaves room for your own associations. Norbert Hummelt, a lyricist and the translator of "The Waste Land", also introduces the work before each performance. Together with the powerful sound of the language and the intoxication of the images, Nicola Hümpel hopes that the audience will experience the same powerful reverberations as she did herself.
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