Happily shaken through
It banged and glittered: the Berlin season opener makes one euphoric - despite the gloomy forecasts that have been made for the theatre lately. Also, or precisely, because of heavy material in times of crisis: Reason for a song of praise.
The forecasts for the future of theatre have recently been rather moderate. But now, the start of the season in Berlin has been so glittering that I am optimistic, almost euphoric. All right, Berlin is not yet Germany or representative of (German-language) theatre. But when two season openings in quick succession transition seamlessly from the end of the play to standing ovations, I find that relieving in view of the many dirges of the past months - and worth a column.
Current theatrical momentum
For example, there was a standing ovation at the Schaubühne for Stas Zhyrkov and Pavlo Arie's reflection on Ukrainian theatre-makers at war, "Taking Up Arms Against a Sea of Plagues". An evening that spiralled from laconic reflections and personal accounts from the front into the innermost parts of an artist's soul, chafing at the contradiction of not wanting to kill and wage war, but colleagues doing just that - in defence of their own freedom. Theatre on the pulse of the times (and the daily news feeds). At the end, people in the audience jumped up and applauded enthusiastically. Among them were many Ukrainians who, here in exile in Berlin, obviously found themselves particularly touched by the issues of the evening. But even I, somehow undecided whether I would rather distance myself from war propaganda (which I also felt was the case in parts) in the theatre or let myself be touched by this brokenness, left the theatre more shaken than I had been in a long time.
Then, a few days later, the greatest storm of enthusiasm I ever remember: at the Volksbühne, where Florentina Holzinger's play "Ophelia's Got Talent" came out. In just under three hours, the layers of a cemented image of women were blasted open with such verve, power and theatrical force that I was still quite dazed the next morning. Also because it had thrown me into the spin cycle of my own images and experiences. My own socialisation as a woman had run along like a second track the whole evening. Sometimes it produced violent counter-reactions, but in the end a feeling of great liberation. On stage, women, mostly dressed in nothing but their skin, returned sexualised charges of female (reified) bodies to a status of innocence, and with breathtaking images between artistry, archaism, pain and exuberant pleasure in theatre, they brought down whole clusters of clichés and ideas. A theatre festival! The party that broke out in the audience at the end of the performance was incredible.
Peeled out of the pandemic
But you could also go to the Maxim Gorki Theatre ("Mother Tongue") or the Deutsches Theater ("Der Einzige und sein Eigentum") - outstanding works and enthusiastic audiences everywhere. At Dock 11, Nico and the Navigators and Chris Ziegler showed their performance "Du musst Dein Leben rendern!" ("You have to render your life!") at the "Humandroid" festival, which consisted of two etudes for three dancers. They measured the field between virtual and analogue space, virtual and their own bodies - and opened up spaces for thought. Research results from digital labs that emerged during the pandemic from which theatre is just rising again. And with power - if you look at these samples from a Berlin theatre week.
So the mediocre forecasts and complaints, most recently about failing audiences, do not coincide with my recent experiences and the audience happiness that comes with it. Coincidence? Luck? Will it continue like this? That's hard to say. Also because no one really knows what this Corona winter will be like. One thing is certain: The season has started great and I have the most beautiful job.