Average

So we discovered the hard way that there is something worse than horrible theatre. And that is average-- or, dare I say, boring?-- theatre. We talk a lot in our training about making bold choices and being brave, even if it's a blunder, because something is better than nothing and everything is better than boring. Well lads and ladies, it's true. Unequivocally true. Here I am smack in the middle of an art-overload experiment in which we can really take a good look at theatre in general as an art form as each day contributes to to the delicious cacophony of characters/shows/feelings/moments in my head, which allows me to say that I have experienced it being proven true. Seeing theatre every night in such a condensed amount of time is incredibly useful for comparison and in remembering what works and what doesn't. And surprisingly, it hasn't made me jaded or difficult to please. If anything, I am even more open and sensitive and supportive an audience member (and museum-viewer) because of my ever increasing pleasure at the endless amount of art and artists here in Berlin. Seriously the theatre is so plentiful. And so varied. It's shocking and wonderful. Well... For the most part...

Last night was the first time we completely split in two for different shows. But ironically, both shows ended up being sub par, to the point that those seeing Nathan the Wise at Berliner Ensemble left at intermission. All but one of us stayed til the end of Front (based on All Quiet on the Western Front) at Deutches Theatre. And to be honest, it seems most of us had our moments of watching the show through our eyelids... But to be even more honest, I was not one of them. Don't get me wrong-- I'm not immune to such things-- oh my goodness did I fight the good fight during the first half of Three Penny Opera last week!!-- however, last night I was a little entranced and reflective throughout the show. It was the simplest of all the productions we have thus far seen. To the point that it almost felt like a HIGHLY-staged staged-reading. It was also very word heavy and performed in several languages and surtitled in German. So it felt like a beautifully lit bedtime story for someone like me who just loves to listen to language regardless of my understanding it or not. The set was very practical in that the actors were mostly lit by lights on stands that they themselves controlled, and the sounds were human-made live with the actors' vocal instruments or the back wall which looked like a huge rock pile but was actually a bunch of metal & etc to create underlying musical tones.

The danger here I think is perhaps that I thought a lot but didn't feel a lot. Except at the beginning when I was so nervous that the quiet was tension being built for gun shots or explosions or something gory and horrible. But it never came. And maybe that's the point. The whole story being told was the endless waste, the interminable waiting, the pain, the quiet, the unknowing that is life when filled with something as big as war which leaves room for nothing else. So maybe it was successful because this show didn't seek to excite or incite. My mates here think maybe they would have enjoyed it more if they understood German (although there were a couple characters who spoke in English) but I think I enjoyed it more because I only caught a few words at a time. Plus I really appreciate an artistic culture that can embrace stillness and slowness as much as frenetic comedy and intimate drama. The actors weren't the best we've seen, but they were fine. And I was relieved to see that the atrocious Elektra was not their norm. However, that raises my original point back to my mind. Elektra has given us an awesome gift of being fodder for much fantastic discussion, and much in the way of a learning tool. We were not indifferent-- we all felt something, even if it was trauma, in watching it. Whereas I've hardly heard anyone all day say a word about the shows we saw last night. They were too easy; too devoid of the deepest parts of humanity we are all so interested in. The choices were specific and started out interesting but then didn't say anything or go anywhere. The musical soundscape (and one crazy square horn in particular) was cool but not moving. They didn't push us or try to see who we were or give us some ideas if who we could be. Oh yes. Give me Elektra any day over that. I would have us move the very stones with our speeches. This normal, everyday, bland theatre is not for me.

And out of my group, I know that I was the one who liked the show the most.