America - Ship of Hope
A new play adapted from Franz Kafka’s “America”. The play is a product of group work, both on the basis of the idea and the play created on the stage.
“the great theatre calls you! It is only calling today, only once! Whoever misses the chance now, misses it forever! Whoever thinks towards the future, listen to us! Everyone is welcome! Down with all those who do not believe in us!” Kafka
Staatstheater Schwerin has taken “travelling”, Magic net’s principal idea for 2006, literally, and is taking a boat trip with its audience. In co-production with Norway, Czechia, Poland and Switzerland – all theatres are situated directly near water – the idea came up to convert the stage for the event into a ship and this idea stimulated the search for a theme. Franz kafka’s novel “America”, written in 1912 and describing Karl Rossmann’s emigration to America, served as a fundament for Henriette Hörnigk’s stage version (Staatstheater Schwerin) and Manuel Schöbel’s production (previously Carrousel Theater, now artistic director Theater Freiberg). He wonderfully satirized in fragments the dream/nightmare of the American society, although he never travelled to America himself. the stage adaptation depicts a round dance of absurd couples and incidents, searching for hope in the land of unlimited opportunities.
Teatret Vårt’s Randolf Walderhaug performed this young Rossmann in several languages, and, not only this virtuosity was impressive. casting a performer to play the role of a 17 year old, who himself is father of a child of that age, was incredibly appealing. The discrepancy between seeing the experienced actor Walderhaug and the lightness with which he plays the adolescent’s naïve rendezvous with his first love, grasps the image Kafka had of the lucid look of an
inexperienced person who is drawn into the overpowering machinery of rules and laws, which characterizes so many of his texts. Rossmann, driven by a strong ambition, and without parental guidance in the new world, gets sucked into a whirlpool of constraints and obligations which forces him continuously to flee. Not his diligence and willpower count, but good connections and the talent of how one can cleverly sell oneself and to exploit others.
There is so much to learn from this America- treadmill. Breathless and often funny. “He was aware and often emphasized it during talks that this novel was more optimistic and ‘lighter’ than anything he had written before […]There are scenes in this book […], which inevitably are reminiscent of Chaplin’s films […]” (Max Brod).
After the opening and the first performance cycle were performed in Molde onboard a vehicle ferry in the Moldefjord, the production launches a tour with a new cast and for a smaller passenger vessel on the inland waters and in different cities along the tour. Schwerin’s Peter Dehler, Artistic Director of the drama company, invited a partly new international ensemble for an intensive 2-week-rehearsal phase to Schwerin, in which a new staging was developed.
The natural forces of the Norwegian mountains, the view and the choppy sea will now be replaced with a black box theatre for approx. 60 spectators aboard the tourist vessel. But otherwise it remains that the audience accompanies the actors on their world travels. For one evening everyone emigrates or at least tries to. The fear of the new world, the deep conviction of leaving Old Europe behind to find a new land and work, a rosier future, these are the matters of a story for an evening devoted to the exploration of the relation between dream and reality.
The international cast of actors perform all roles: from a board crew and emigrants to the immigration office and the nature theatre of Oklahoma. Next to the logistical complexity, the project is above all a language act which represents the actual fascination of this work. Just as with any other Magic Net projects.
The opening night: July 13, 2006 in Molde/Norway
After the opening night and 8 more performances in Molde, Norway (July 13-23 2006), this co-production will travel to Tallin, Estonia, Jelenia Gora, Poland, Zurich, Bratislava, and in June 2007 to Schwerin, Germany.
Director:
Manuel Schöbel
Set Design:
Thomas Bjørnager
Costumes:
Frauke Bischinger
Literary Manager:
Henriette Hörnigk
Cast:
Dorothee Föllner
Brigitte Peters
Ute Sengelbusch
Antje Sieglin
Vivi Sunde
Marián Chalány
Jakob Giel
Jakob Kraze
René-Philippe Meyer
Randolf Walderhaug
Staatstheater Schwerin has taken “travelling”, Magic net’s principal idea for 2006, literally, and is taking a boat trip with its audience. In co-production with Norway, Czechia, Poland and Switzerland – all theatres are situated directly near water – the idea came up to convert the stage for the event into a ship and this idea stimulated the search for a theme. Franz kafka’s novel “America”, written in 1912 and describing Karl Rossmann’s emigration to America, served as a fundament for Henriette Hörnigk’s stage version (Staatstheater Schwerin) and Manuel Schöbel’s production (previously Carrousel Theater, now artistic director Theater Freiberg). He wonderfully satirized in fragments the dream/nightmare of the American society, although he never travelled to America himself. the stage adaptation depicts a round dance of absurd couples and incidents, searching for hope in the land of unlimited opportunities.
Teatret Vårt’s Randolf Walderhaug performed this young Rossmann in several languages, and, not only this virtuosity was impressive. casting a performer to play the role of a 17 year old, who himself is father of a child of that age, was incredibly appealing. The discrepancy between seeing the experienced actor Walderhaug and the lightness with which he plays the adolescent’s naïve rendezvous with his first love, grasps the image Kafka had of the lucid look of an
inexperienced person who is drawn into the overpowering machinery of rules and laws, which characterizes so many of his texts. Rossmann, driven by a strong ambition, and without parental guidance in the new world, gets sucked into a whirlpool of constraints and obligations which forces him continuously to flee. Not his diligence and willpower count, but good connections and the talent of how one can cleverly sell oneself and to exploit others.
There is so much to learn from this America- treadmill. Breathless and often funny. “He was aware and often emphasized it during talks that this novel was more optimistic and ‘lighter’ than anything he had written before […]There are scenes in this book […], which inevitably are reminiscent of Chaplin’s films […]” (Max Brod).
After the opening and the first performance cycle were performed in Molde onboard a vehicle ferry in the Moldefjord, the production launches a tour with a new cast and for a smaller passenger vessel on the inland waters and in different cities along the tour. Schwerin’s Peter Dehler, Artistic Director of the drama company, invited a partly new international ensemble for an intensive 2-week-rehearsal phase to Schwerin, in which a new staging was developed.
The natural forces of the Norwegian mountains, the view and the choppy sea will now be replaced with a black box theatre for approx. 60 spectators aboard the tourist vessel. But otherwise it remains that the audience accompanies the actors on their world travels. For one evening everyone emigrates or at least tries to. The fear of the new world, the deep conviction of leaving Old Europe behind to find a new land and work, a rosier future, these are the matters of a story for an evening devoted to the exploration of the relation between dream and reality.
The international cast of actors perform all roles: from a board crew and emigrants to the immigration office and the nature theatre of Oklahoma. Next to the logistical complexity, the project is above all a language act which represents the actual fascination of this work. Just as with any other Magic Net projects.
The opening night: July 13, 2006 in Molde/Norway
After the opening night and 8 more performances in Molde, Norway (July 13-23 2006), this co-production will travel to Tallin, Estonia, Jelenia Gora, Poland, Zurich, Bratislava, and in June 2007 to Schwerin, Germany.
Director:
Manuel Schöbel
Set Design:
Thomas Bjørnager
Costumes:
Frauke Bischinger
Literary Manager:
Henriette Hörnigk
Cast:
Dorothee Föllner
Brigitte Peters
Ute Sengelbusch
Antje Sieglin
Vivi Sunde
Marián Chalány
Jakob Giel
Jakob Kraze
René-Philippe Meyer
Randolf Walderhaug
Magic-Net is supported by the European Commission under the programme Culture 2000
design & programming ARTEMiSiUM GmbH & Co. KG | © 2008 MAGIC NET