English Theatre Berlin, Germany
March 2013
Curation, Concept,
Stage Design & Direction:
SHAKESPEARE IM PARK BERLIN
In March 2013, SHAKESPEARE IM PARK BERLIN was invited into English Theatre Berlin – ravenous and flea-bitten from its summer exploits – in order to convene an epic writing as eating competition. Over 45 writers submitted multi-lingual performance texts – part of a larger effort from the English Theatre to reflect upon Berlin’s diverse (or not?) expat community and the discourse that surrounds it. Who will succumb to and who will help to perpetuate the cultural sausage factory?
We curators then selected 5 “winners” to be breaded, battered, fried to a crisp, and served tableside with white gloves, Michelin-style. English Theatre itself was divided into five, integrated and interdependent installations, coordinated and executed by three ensembles – actors, writers, directors – in perfect harmony. The writers themselves greased the gears of a well-oiled (or deep-fried) wurst-production and consumption apparatus run out of the theater’s bathroom. Three talented Fressers gobbled down everything the writer-kitchen could pump out. And a Greek-ish chorus of directors presided (high) over the tightly scheduled affair and performed every word of the “winning” texts with the help of their handy-dandy Karaoke-Algorithm. There were fries and franks (and gluten-free veggie tempura). Ketchup. Gold-plated-Hoover-trophies. Peanuts. And lots and lots of Mayo.
Including new texts by: Claire Delaby, Alberto Di Gennaro, Emal Ghamsharick, Marie Hoffmann, Harvey Rabbit, Antoine Hummel & Jacques Pradillon
Ensemble: Maxwell Flaum, Alberto Di Gennaro, Peter Priegann, Sebastian Rein, Errol Shaker, Brandon Woolf & the Authors
Costume Design: Arianne Vitale Cardoso
Lighting and Video Design: Jake Witlen
Production Assistance: Rowena Waack
Visual Artwork: Mark Mulroney
Photography: Olga Baczynska
Press & Public Relations: Sarah Rosenau