Presse – Ins Blaue (Into the Blue)

schließen

“ A fun research.”
(Dorothea Marcus, Theater heute, November 2017)

“In the scenes of the operetta, especially through the singing of Hans-Hermann Ehrich, an inkling of its fascination in wartime arises for moments. But quickly the curtain falls, the performers step forward and behind them it smokes and glows like wild.”
(Kai Bremer, Nachtkritik, 2.9.2017)

Ins Blaue (Into the Blue), Theater Osnabrück, 2017

schließen
A fun research.

(Theater heute)

Osnabrück, 1942: each evening, the operetta hit ‘Maske in Blau’ (‘Mask in Blue’) is performed, helping the audience to forget the ever-present terrors of the World War for a few moments. With its ‘Kraft durch Freude’ (‘Strength through Joy’) programme, Osnabrück Theatre, which was one of the first to comply with the Third Reich’s race laws, achieved sensational audience figures. Katharina Temmeyer watched the play eight times back then, each time accompanied by a different front soldier on home leave. On the 75th anniversary of her season ticket, the theatre re-stages the original version of ‘Ins Blaue’, her favourite piece from back then, for the now 97 year old and oldest theatre spectator in Osnabrück. Unfortunately, all of the recordings and documents that would have allowed for an authentic re-enactment were incinerated when the theatre burned down during a British air raid in 1943. What remains are the fragmentary memories of a lady whose testimony is at the heart of the restaging. Is that how it was, or was it different? Through her presence in the audience, she works to correct her own narrative, which increasingly destabilises itself.

Finally, she is herself inscribed into the operetta, which is about the mysterious image of an unknown woman. Is Frau Temmeyer the mask in blue? Operetta and testimony, documentation and fiction are ultimately difficult to keep apart: what is real – and what is manipulation? How do we remember a catastrophe, the eye witnesses to which will not be around for much longer – and who testifies for the witnesses as long as they are still telling their stories? What was the role of the theatre in the war – and what is its role today, with fascism once again openly showing its face?

Premiere on 1. September 2017 at Theater Osnabrück. Further Performances on 02.09.2017 and 03.09.2017.

With Johanna Franke, Katherina Nakui, Neven Del Canto und Hans-Hermann Ehrich. Script writer and director: Jan Philipp Stange, stage and costumes: Josephine Hans, video: Jakob Engel, dramaturgy: Elisabeth Zimmermann, piano: Wladimir Krasmann | photos by Uwe Lewandowski

Ins Blaue (Into the Blue) Ins Blaue (Into the Blue)
Ins Blaue (Into the Blue) Ins Blaue (Into the Blue)