Das Spiel ist Aus and thoughts on the human body

          The last few days in Berlin have been amazing. There is so much to see, feel, taste, touch, hear. In fact, the show we saw last night called Das Spiel ist Aus was just that – a sensual experience. Not being able to understand the German language of the play was frustrating at times, but after awhile it didn’t really matter. The play was a sensory experience. I still don’t know the plot (maybe someday I’ll read or see an English version) but my creative well inside me was filled with images and impressions that I will hold onto for along time. The show opened as a black curtain rose, revealing the red velvet seats of the actual theatre, the famous Deutsches Theater – we found that we were actually sitting on the stage. Two naked actors awoke and began. From there, I was hooked. THEN, the whole audience began to turn around, as if on a Lazy Susan, and faced the back of the theatre. I’ve never experienced anything like it. Other highlights include: snow falling on the audience, actors rubbing blue paint on all over themselves, a beautiful love story involving a silhouetted kiss amidst a circle of fog and twinkling lights, a 3 dimensional atmospheric soundtrack, unforgettable lights and shadows, among many other incredible moments.

          However, in spite of all of the visceral experiences, what struck me the most was the acting. I truly believe the acting is what made the show so special. I had no idea what the actors were saying, but it didn’t matter because they were so honest and it wasn’t more than it needed to be. They were listening and responding from the gut. Nothing was forced. What they were doing was so important – they drew our attention in and we rooted for them. I knew exactly when someone was betrayed, when someone was turned on, when someone had a secret. They truly believed what they were doing and the world they were in, thus, so did we. It was not Deadly Theatre, as Peter Brook writes about. It was alive and breathing. It made me so excited to be an actor and to create good art and good theatre. And, I’ve seen a lot of bad theatre. I mean… a lot. This was good. Great. I guess it gives me hope that theatre can still be inspiring. Because it was for me.

          On another note, my eyes have been open to many different depictions of the human body. I feel like Europeans have a different perspective of the body and treat it with more respect than Americans do. Maybe not, just a thought. Ancient Greeks idealized the male form (some of us talked about how amazing the butts on their statues are). 18^th century artists painted amazing naked angels and gods on the ceilings. Ancient Romans made oil lamps out of phalluses. Pablo Picasso drew a lot of curvy naked women. Not to mention, the actors last night, as well as the audience, were comfortable with their nudity. There is something sacred about the depicted humans I’ve seen so far. I feel like sexuality is something that is a bit more honored and revered over here. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for more of a trend. Here are some pictures of the aforementioned.