- KIND OF “A piercing analysis of speech, identity and power, Ofira Henig juxtaposes authoritarian grammar lessons with military manoeuvre to examine the politics of exclusion and oppression in Israel – a powerful performance of marching music, classroom choreography and polemical text fragments.” NP
- ¿Qué haré yo con esta espada? “Angélica Liddell comes to visceral grips with the concept of extreme violence, sparing her audience no excess (including memorable scenes of octopus erotica). This is uppercut theatre that left some a little groggy, others a little upset – but no one indifferent. We left the Schaubühne in an unusual state of euphoria.” NV
PLAYS Tops Die Hamletmaschine Maxim Gorki Theater “In a season of productions that obsessively pleaded for their own social relevance, it felt like it ‘needed’ to be done – Müller’s text needed to have the dust blown off of it in order to remind us of its lasting relevance, and the Middle Eastern interpreters needed Müller in order to give their representation of the region’s suffering the mythic magnitude it deserves.” DM Im Herzen der Gewalt Schaubühne “Thomas Ostermeier is proving himself to be a rare child of German Regietheater who is willing to restrain the obtrusiveness of his directorial choices in order to foreground the presence and power of his actors, to embrace intellectual ambiguity while not shying away from visceral emotional experience.” DM Welcome to Hell Neuköllner Oper “Peter Lund’s musical take on last year’s G20 summit in Hamburg is as nuanced as it is entertaining. Tight choreography and an infectiously catchy score by Peter Michael von der Nahmer make for a riotous performance.” NP Flops Liberté Volksbühne “Albert Serra’s foray into the milieu of de Sade betrayed a profound lack of understanding of the theatrical medium itself.” DM Les Misérables Berliner Ensemble “Following the psychodrama his departure unleashed, Frank Castorf’s first post-Volksbühne performance was met with high expectations. It was an unanimous disappointment. What we said: “Stuffed with his stagnant directorial habits, it elicited ambivalent frustration as a work whose virtuoso actors had great moments but were ultimately dragged down by the length of the evening – seven and a half hours for the premiere!” DM Ungeduld des Herzens (Beware of Pity) Schaubühne “McBurney is too slick for his own good. At times, it feels like he’s throwing every directorial trick at Zweig’s text, with incessant photographic and video projections and copious musical scoring.” DM Die Hamletmaschine Dec 20, 19:30 Maxim-Gorki-Theater, Mitte | Im Herzen der Gewalt Dec 6-9 (English surtitles Dec 7-8) Schaubühne, Wilmersdorf | Welcome to Hell Dec 1-30, 20:00 Neuköllner Oper, Neukölln | Kreatur Dec 19-22, 20:00 Radialsystem V, Friedrichshain | Körper Dec 6-9, 20:00 Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Wilmersdorf | Unterwerfung Dec 18-19, 19:30 Volksbühne, Mitte