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Berlin, Day 17: Coriolanus (Shakespeare / Sanchez), Deutsches Theater Kammerspiele

By On 17/05/2013 · Leave a Comment

My final day in Berlin, my sixth show at the Deutsches Theater: finally Shakespeare. And relatively rarely performed Shakespeare, too: Coriolanus, in a new translation by Andres Marber that to my mind got more right than wrong – it certainly didn’t interfere with my enjoyment as much as the late Thomas Brasch’s famed version of [...]

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Berlin, Day 16: Hedda Gabler (Ibsen / Pucher), Deutsches Theater

By On 16/05/2013 · Leave a Comment

Sixteen shows in, Berlin theatre still manages to surprise me with new stylistic choices, visual arsenals, and performance aesthetics. Stefan Pucher’s Hedda Gabler at the Deutsches Theater was the first production that used the revolve to switch between sets – every other time I’ve seen that feature used, it was obviously the stage floor itself [...]

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Brecht, Baumgarten, Blackface

By On 14/05/2013 · 6 Comments

Today, I saw my first blackface performance.

Let me rephrase that. I’m sure I saw quite a few things of this kind when I was a kid. I know for a fact that I painted my face brown, red, and yellow for carnival. But as an adult, in a serious play, this was a first [...]

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Berlin, Day 14: Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare / Eidinger), Schaubuehne

By On 13/05/2013 · Leave a Comment

Well, fuck.

This was a production I had looked forward to. The photos promised fun, if nothing else. It was supposed to be an unsentimental take on the play, putting desire above love. And Lars Eidinger is an exceptionally talented actor who has done great work in Shakespearean roles — his Hamlet in particular has [...]

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