Stop! Enough Already! Louder! 12 Last Songs
by Stemann/Kürstner/Vogel/von Blomberg
We have to stop – that much is clear. Things can’t go on like this. And it’s high time, because the life we’re living here isn’t “real”; it can’t be ours. The right one is still to come. But where’s it to be found? Someone should really announce: “This way, please.” Then we could just follow their instructions – or not.
Instead people everywhere are resigning and retreating, preferring to give themselves the axe rather than risk being perceived as the enemy. We’re constantly hearing about the end of things: fashions, standards, eras and people – only to see them resurrected a heartbeat later. What follows is the eternal bonus track – swan songs that just won’t end. Just like the long-heralded end of the fun society, they’ve been celebrating Germany’s phasing out of nuclear power for years. ‘Maybe’ is applied to the dead as well as the living. Everything comes to resemble everything else; everything merges together.
Coming to a decision is a lonely, almost unbearable process when the point of view needed to make it is missing, or when there are simply too many viewpoints. Often there’s just one thing to do: keep quiet and simply function. And because everyone knows this, everybody has just one thing in mind: refusal, their very own exit strategy. The "I would prefer not to." But prefer not to what? And what would we rather do in its place? Thank goodness one thing seems certain: After the economic shockwaves of recent years, turbo-capitalism has sung its swan song.
So let’s all quit together – and for good. Let’s stop putting on an act! We’ll pack it all in and do our own thing. An evening of song! The others have talked enough, now’s our chance to sing. We’ll perform 12 songs – and more. As many as are necessary ´till it’s time for us to throw in the towel. After all, we’re also being judged by the ratings.
Instead people everywhere are resigning and retreating, preferring to give themselves the axe rather than risk being perceived as the enemy. We’re constantly hearing about the end of things: fashions, standards, eras and people – only to see them resurrected a heartbeat later. What follows is the eternal bonus track – swan songs that just won’t end. Just like the long-heralded end of the fun society, they’ve been celebrating Germany’s phasing out of nuclear power for years. ‘Maybe’ is applied to the dead as well as the living. Everything comes to resemble everything else; everything merges together.
Coming to a decision is a lonely, almost unbearable process when the point of view needed to make it is missing, or when there are simply too many viewpoints. Often there’s just one thing to do: keep quiet and simply function. And because everyone knows this, everybody has just one thing in mind: refusal, their very own exit strategy. The "I would prefer not to." But prefer not to what? And what would we rather do in its place? Thank goodness one thing seems certain: After the economic shockwaves of recent years, turbo-capitalism has sung its swan song.
So let’s all quit together – and for good. Let’s stop putting on an act! We’ll pack it all in and do our own thing. An evening of song! The others have talked enough, now’s our chance to sing. We’ll perform 12 songs – and more. As many as are necessary ´till it’s time for us to throw in the towel. After all, we’re also being judged by the ratings.
Director Nicolas Stemann
Costumes Marysol del Castillo
Music Thomas Kürstner, Sebastian Vogel
Video Claudia Lehmann
Dramaturgy Benjamin von Blomberg
World Premiere February 19, 2011
Margit Bendokat
Andreas Döhler
Felix Goeser
Barbara Heynen
Maria Schrader
Thomas Kürstner
Rainer Piwek
Nicolas Stemann
Sebastian Vogel
Frankfurter Rundschau
Ein Nummern-Song reiht sich an den anderen, eine Gaga-Dada-Einlage sticht die nächste aus. Fast möchte man meinen, der Sinn bestünde darin, ihn zu vernichten, ein für alle Mal, nur um zu sehen, was für ein wunderliches Theater aus diesen Ruinen heraustritt. Und so poltern und stolpern sie denn durch den bunten Krimskramsladen, den Stemann gemeinsam mit Jelena Nagorni ein Bühnenbild nennt, die Schauspieler und Musiker, die hier im Grunde immer beides sind, insbesondere aber eines immer sein wollen: Klamaukindianer.
Ein Nummern-Song reiht sich an den anderen, eine Gaga-Dada-Einlage sticht die nächste aus. Fast möchte man meinen, der Sinn bestünde darin, ihn zu vernichten, ein für alle Mal, nur um zu sehen, was für ein wunderliches Theater aus diesen Ruinen heraustritt. Und so poltern und stolpern sie denn durch den bunten Krimskramsladen, den Stemann gemeinsam mit Jelena Nagorni ein Bühnenbild nennt, die Schauspieler und Musiker, die hier im Grunde immer beides sind, insbesondere aber eines immer sein wollen: Klamaukindianer.
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