»forest/machine/slaughterhouse-prayer«
Performance for two actors on a text by Mehdi Moradpour
A carnal anthem, a sensuous song of praise, a testosterone-filled accusation, a needy gladiator combat, an ode, a litany, a prayer for her/him/it.
Actors Fabian Neupert and Richard Gonlag try to survive in a world full of love, violence and war.
Director: Richard Gonlag
Actors: Fabian Neupert, Richard Gonlag
Music: Munsha, feat. Dennis Depta
Butoh Choreography: 4RUDE, Hikaru Inagawa
Videos/Photos: Dean Bell
Length: about 50 min
Premiere: 15th of June 2017 • Club der Polnischen Versager for the Performing Arts Festivals Berlin
Next performances:
12th Oct. 2017 • Tartu Üliõpilasteatri A-Festival / Festival for Theatre Tartu
10th/11th Nov. 2017 • BrotfabrikBühne Berlin
29th/11th March • Alte Münze Berlin (»slaughterhouse«)
© Dean Bell at the Club der Polnischen Versager
© Saverio Tonoli Solo-Performance at the Alte Münze Berlin
Iranian-born Author Mehdi Moradpour wrote this long poem, this very physical prayer trying to catch his views on this world and mankind in modern times in a new language: German.
Life has become a profit based, calculated machine that has to be fed and never gets enough. No matter if it is for the food industry or war – life has no real value anymore. People are shoved in all directions of the wind, gathered, contained and destroyed, like cattle.
Meat industry. Items in a global economy.
The I and the You in Mehdi's text – whoever they are – try to survive. They fight for love, for breath, for their place under the stars, for their position as man in this world, for their souls, for a purpose in life.
Are they friends, father and son, just one person in different stages of life, lovers, or archenemies? Or all of the above?
We perform the text three times, intermitted by three musical intersections, dissolve the text and into physical images. They hover in space, like words in 3D or entities made of language, used as weapons to achieve something in the other person or in themselves … Survival.
The actors built an inner world out of very personal and direct feelings and images, with which they improvise their actions. Like gladiators in an arena they adapt to environment, music and the audience. They’ve worked with Grotowski and Butoh to achieve this physical state.
Associations of the actors and the composer
COLOURS
black (forest), blue (machine), brown (slaughterhouse)
ASSOCIATIONS/MATERIALS
Forest, the hunt, youth – body/water/gender/game/air/spirit/dream/glass/sand
Machine, battle, warriors – war/dance/love/head/paper/rationality/metal
Slaughterhouse, mass, death – city/blood/sex/animalistic/fire/wood/leather/skin
Projects
Sandbank
Children's health cure on Spiekeroog • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« 2022
Passenger Processing
the Columbusbahnhof Bremerhaven • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« 2021
Nr. 10
A film by Alex van Warmerdam 2021
How to cry
Theatre performance by »&sistig« 2021
Heimat & Fremde
the poet Hermann Allmers • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« 2021
Häuser-Fluchten
Site-specific theatre by »spreeagenten« 2020
Audio Drama Enthymesis
An Audio drama based on Arno Schmidt.
Souvenir 1870
Theatre in the train • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« in 2019
»wa/m/s-g« version 2
Performance for two actors
Photoshoot III
with Jaap de Jonge in Wünsdorf near Zossen
WILHELM*INA
Theatre in the train • Project of »Das Letzte Kleinod« in 2018
Photoshoot II
with Jaap de Jonge in the tank barracks Bernau
»wa/m/s-g«
Performance for two actors
Performing Arts Festival
ProtokollB • Three theatre nights at PAF 2017
Digital Digestion
Protokoll B • Installation & Performance
Festival 48-h-Neukölln 2016
Met Film School
My collaboration with the Met Film School Berlin
Photoshoot
with Jaap de Jonge in the villa Neue Hakeburg
Am Boden
A theatre play based on Maxim Gorki • Graduation at the theatre school Die Etage
Enthymesis
Theatre Monologue in celebration of Arno Schmidt's 100th birthday