HEINER MULLER AT
THE ARMY THEATER IN SOFIA
D-r
Ksenia Kisselincheva
Provoked by the unusual
interest of young spectators, the German-Bulgarian production of H.Muller’s
“Hamletmachine” is performed at open doors/free entrance/ from September 26th
to September 29th at the Army Theater in Sofia Bulgaria
The applause hasn’t faded away
when Bernhardt, the director ushered me in a backstage room, where the actors
were unwinding after the sacrificial ritual of being on stage. There was a
heightened atmosphere of exchanging comments, remarks and praises about what
has just happened on stage. Because the performance was evolving like a living
organism, it was changing from one night to the next… Our conversation with
Bernhardt was accompanied by a glass of wine, with interjections from the actors
and with a lot of laughter…But, nevertheless we ‘delved into the essence of
things” and had fun all the way.
This is Heiner Muller’s most
profound text about the return of Hamlet, the emigrant to a hostile
environment. It has been conceived under the impact of Benot Besson’s “Hamlet”.
It employs all kinds of theatrical means, blending inter-medial expression,
pantomime, pseudo-monologue, scenic images and audiovisual effects etc.
“I noticed there were
variations in the show from one evening to the next. Is improvisation implied
in the actors’ performance?”
“Certainly. There is a certain
structure which keeps the play together, but there is also room for
improvisation, very often in response to a different audience.”
“How about the change of
parts, one and the same actor takes on several parts. What is the theatrical
meaning of it?”
“It implies there are multiple
interpretations of character, different conceptions of Hamlet or Ophelia. The
“Hamletmachine” projects in five scenes the conflict between the sexes. Actors
give up one part for another, sexes interchange and overlap, meanings clash and
coexist. The discussion about Hamlet’s personality is given yet another
dimension- the self-analysis of H. Muller himself. Ten years before the fall of
the Berlin
“You seem to have incorporated
some hot references to our transition- do you tend to do it when performing in
different countries?”
“Definitely. It adds new
dimensions to the living body of the text and it tunes in to the acquired
attitude of the audience to popular TV shows. Merging German and Bulgarian
theatrical traditions and the interplay between them broadens the implications
of Muller’s text.”
“The actors deliver their monologues
simultaneously, without listening to each other. Is this a suggestion of
failure of communication, of inability to empathize with each other?”
“That’s right. There is no proper dramatic
dialogue. There are only parallel monologues, addressed to the audience, which
is a big partner in the game.”
Sofia Echo weekly, 2010
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