As my book project, which I have written chronologically so far, starting somewhere around 1870, is now approaching contemporary theatre, I am beginning to talk about artists who are actually alive. So I have started to make contact with some of them and have been able to conduct three interviews so far, worth two theatre directors and one theatre musician.
This is quite an interesting process: it always strikes me how different artists conceptualise and reflect on their work to the way I would describe it. It is quite a useful challenge to step out of one's own discourse and jargon and to try to truly understand and embrace the differences in emphasis and vocabulary provided by the artists themselves.
First of the three artists and productions I encountered was Matthieu Leloup, who directed the company Bred in the Bone in 2006 based on a text by T.S. Eliot - an intricate interweaving of live music with a clearly improvised flair of jazz and klezmer and actors who performed their texts, gestures and movement not to music but as music.
Then I talked to director Thorsten Lensing, who continues to baffle audiences in Germany with highly original productions ranging from adaptations of novels or poetry (again T.S. Eliot, actually!) and classics like King Lear or The Cherry Orchard. I wanted to talk to him specifically about a production from 2009, Der Lauf zum Meer, based on a text by William Carlos Williams.
Again, it was the particularly intricate and tight interweaving of three improvising live musicians with three actors, interspersing their lines like jazz soloists into the musical texture that struck me at the time and that I was curious to find out more about with regard to the process of development. More about in my chapter in the book.
Finally, I just had the chance to see one of the final performances of the impressive production Das Werk. Der Bus. Der Sturz by Elfriede Jelinek, directed by Karin Beier. I spoke to the composer of the production, Jörg Gollasch – his music features three live musicians (cello, percussion) almost throughout the piece, as well as long breathtaking section of through-composed speech rhythms for large male choir. Again, I was intrigued to find out quite how interrelated the musical and theatrical development of the production were, how indispensable composing and directing proved to be for each other in this process.
I am looking forward to going throw theses conversations again now and to try to make sense of them the context of my particular discourse hopefully without falling into the trap of "simply making them fit", but allowing the occasional difference I mentioned above to shine though.
