The 200th anniversary of Kleist’s death in late November and my general interest in working with the performer Barbara Kraus inspired me to finally get around to spending some time on my favourite author, the exhilarating Kleist, his “cheerful” suicide, his longing for Vienna, his resistance. Uncompromising, he never could resign himself to the way things were – resisting, ever resolute when it came to prevailing conditions – that’s what we’re all interested in and ultimately what brought us all together: the performer Barbara Kraus and myself, the “theatre” director, supported by a critical dramaturge and a diligent assistant.

Our starting point comprised written material on Kleist’s numerous travels – those that took place, those that didn’t, those he dreamed of – letters, correspondence related to his suicide pact with Henriette Vogel (how he committed suicide is known – à deux, because you never die alone, as Artaud says), as well as other primary and secondary sources on Kleist.

I’m developing the theatrical adaptation alongside the rehearsals … putting together new building blocks for the next day as soon as today’s rehearsal is over … at some point a theatrical adaptation will take shape around the main strands that emerge from the abundance of material.

The sequences of events in the four or five performances we’ve initially planned can be reproduced relatively reliably, but it’s new to Barbara to learn texts “off by heart” and to learn them in such a way that they can not only be reproduced freely but also – despite all the precision – become something for her, the performer, to play with freely. Arcs of suspense, rhythms, breaks and new beginnings in the individual stages have to be precisely placed. The way the musicality develops should be unique to each evening at the theatre, providing space for little climaxes and twists at the right times. For me it’s about encouraging Barbara to deal with the text and about me dealing with her “anarchy”, which is all about caring for others. How exciting!

Rehearsal Notes | Excerpt

5th Sept 2011 | Start of Rehearsals

present:

Barbara Kraus, performer, Sabine Mitterecker, director, Camilla Reimitz, assistant,

Uwe Mattheiss, dramaturge

Exaltation, ideas without ‘body’, Kleist’s musicality, waste, misinterpretation, wrong perceptions, what conclusions are to be drawn from historical parallels, excess, flight behaviour, military, war, erraticism, reason, virtue, fragility – also with regard to (romantic) relationship patterns: the feudal marriage system no longer exists, the model of bourgeois love matches does not yet apply – with these keywords and the related discussion, we start work.

Stuttering, mumbling monologues, pathologically compulsive orderliness at the same time as wasteful chaos, high pain perception – initial ideas for Barbara.

Plain man’s suit, smart shoes.

One of the first questions that Barbara asks is whether her alter ego JohnPlayerSpezial is welcome to spontaneously take part occasionally. I ask her to give Johnny a couple of days off for now …

To be continued …

sabmitt