Theatre of Real People Diverse Encounters at Berlin’s Hebbel am Ufer and Beyond

by Garde, Ulrike; Mumford, Meg; Brater, Enoch; Taylor-Batty, Mark

• ISBN13: 9781472580214
• ISBN10: 1472580214
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2016-05-19
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama

Summary

Theatre of Real People offers fresh perspectives on the current fascination with putting people on stage who present aspects of their own lives and who are not usually trained actors. After providing a history of this mode of performance, and theoretical frameworks for its analysis, the book focuses on work developed by seminal practitioners at Berlin's Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) production house. It invites the reader to explore the HAU's innovative approach to Theatre of Real People, authenticity and cultural diversity during the period of Matthias Lilienthal's leadership (2003–12).

Garde and Mumford also elucidate how Theatre of Real People can create and destabilise a sense of the authentic, and suggest how Authenticity-Effects can present new ways of perceiving diverse and unfamiliar people. Through a detailed analysis of key HAU productions such as Lilienthal's brainchild X-Apartments, Mobile Academy's Blackmarket, and Rimini Protokoll's 100% City, the book explores both the artistic agenda of an important European theatre institution, and a crucial aspect of contemporary theatre's social engagement.

Author Biography

Dr Ulrike Garde is Senior Lecturer in German Studies at Macquarie University, Australia. Her research interests range across Intercultural German Studies, German literature and the performing arts. Her publications include Brecht & Co: German-speaking Playwrights on the Australian Stage (2007).
Dr Meg Mumford is Senior Lecturer in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of New South Wales, Australia. Her research focuses on social engagement, intercultural exchange, and the politics of performing bodies, particularly with regard to theatre from Germany and Australia. She has published extensively on the work of playwright-director Bertolt Brecht, and is the author of Bertolt Brecht (2009).

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. A Historical Perspective on Theatre of Real People
2. Theatre of Real People at the HAU
3. Theatre and Authenticity-Effects
4. Encounters with Cultural Diversity at the HAU
5. Berliners with an 'Authenticity Guarantee': Cultural Complexity in 100% Berlin and 100% City
6. Meeting Unfamiliar Residents in Berlin: Playing with Frames of Reference in X-Apartments
7. Unsettling Journey into the Unfamiliar: Ambiguous Guides to the City in Call Cutta: Mobile Phone Theatre
8. Getting Closer to the Subject(s) of Migration: Partial Proximity in Schwarzmarkt No. 7 and Mr Dagaçar and the Golden Tectonics of Trash
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index