With the new milennium here and a more unified Europe on the horizon, the time is right for renewal and greater cross-cultural exchange in the theater. At least that’s the feeling at a number of institutions in France, Britain and Italy who have been working together for three years now to promote young talent, interconnecting languages and borders.
Nevertheless it is Germany’s prestigious Schaubühne that is leading the way, having named as Artistic Director 33-year-old Thomas Ostermeier, better known as the wonderkind of Die Baracke, Berlin’s premiere stage for 20-30 something urbanites. The fresher feel of European theater can be witnessed this month at the Théâtre National de la Colline, which welcomes German-language productions by Ostermeier’s Schaubühne, of Jon Fosse (“Der Name”/“The Name”) from Norway and Sarah Kane (“Gier”/“Crave”) from Britain.
Indeed, if European theater is going to get younger and bolder, this will take place under Ostermeier’s direction. During the three years he spent as the artistic head of the Baracke from 1996 to 1999, the venue became a pioneer of contemporary writing and the hippest stage in Berlin. The location, a cluster of barracks behind the Deutsches Theater, provided the proper dose of anti-establishment atmosphere to stage never-seen-before artists like Mark Ravenhill (“Shopping and Fucking”), Enda Walsh (“Disco Pigs”), David Harrower (“Knives in Hens”) and Richard Dresser (“Below the Belt”). In his first administrative post after graduating from the Ernst Busch Academy for Performing Arts, Ostermeier quickly made his mark on the Berlin theater scene with brash works and a lean and physical directing style in part imposed by the Baracke’s long, low and narrow dimensions, in part inspired by his masters: Meyerhold, Brecht and Artaud.
Since his nomination to the Schaubühne in January 2001, Ostermeier has shaken up this institution of socially-committed theater, the former home of directors Peter Stein, Klaus-Michael Grüber, Luc Bondy and Robert Wilson. Under its new direction, the theater remains run as an ensemble of salaried employees and keeps a social vision, but introduces two innovations: one is a dance program that is an equal partner to the season’s theater offerings, the other is being pledged to premiering the work of young authors.
Fosse and Kane are two of those who have caught Ostermeier’s attention with a spare, raw style. The 42-year-old Fosse came to theater after extended forays in essay and fiction, but now has 11 plays to his credit, including “Quelqu’un va venir” (1996), for which Fosse won the coveted Ibsen Prize and praise as a leader in new Norwegian theater. “Der Name” has Ibsonian currents, while teetering on the brink of real-life tragi-comedy in its description of a young couple stifled by family, society, each other and their imminent responsibilities as parents.
But, while Fosse has pushed theater traditions in Norway, the late Sarah Kane blew up the establishment in England with plays like “Blasted” (1995) and “Cleansed” (1996), depicting homosexual rape, cannibalism and amputation. Vilified by the press as gratuitous depictions of violence, the works are better read as an attempt to come to terms with a breaking down of human relations in contemporary society. Kane’s last play “Crave,” a monologue in four voices performed shortly before she committed suicide in 1999 at the age of 27, shed new light on the emotional depths of this brutally honest author plagued by an abusive past and misleading critical reception.
With “Gier,” Ostermeier sets out to rehabilitate Kane’s reputation, writing in the newspaper Der Spiegel in 1999 — “A person who, as Sarah did, lets herself go completely, is always in danger of losing herself. But it is precisely this complete letting go that is admirable in her work and that we have loved about her.” In his choices of Fosse and Kane, he also shows his commitment to continuing his work at the Baracke by giving tomorrow’s voices their place on stage today. Under Ostermeier, the idea of a truly European theater is starting to look very exciting indeed.
Also at the Colline this month, Alain Françon directs “Visage de feu” (“Feuergesicht”) about a dysfunctional family of hippie parents and bomb-building kids, written by 28-year-old Marius von Mayenburg, a playwright attached to the Schaubühne, and the translator of “Gier.” “Der Name” June 6-10 , “Gier,” June 19-23, (in German with French subtitles), Tue 7:30pm, Wed-Sat 8:30pm, Sun 3:30pm. “Visage de feu,” to June 24, Wed-Sat 9pm, Tue 7pm, Sun 4pm, Théâtre nationale de la Colline, 15 rue Malte Brun, 20e, M&Mac251; Gambetta, 50-160F, tel: 01 44 62 52 52
