The Münchner Kammerspiele have cooperated with the Chinese collective Papier Tiger Theater Studio.
The production "Heart Chamber Fragments" has now premiered.
Our premiere review:
Our heart is a wondrous organ, a diligent muscle in the service of life.
Of course, people have long ascribed many other meanings to the hollow body in their rib cage than just biological.
Tian Gebing's “Heart Chamber Fragments” is a theatrical search for traces between science, art, ethics and philosophy, a collaboration between the independent Chinese collective Papier Tiger Theater Studio, founded in Beijing in 1997, and the Münchner Kammerspiele.
The evening premiered on Thursday in the Therese-Giehse-Halle.
It is not the first cooperation this season: with the Complejo Teatral de Buenos Aires, “Los Años / The Years” by Mariano Pensotti was created.
The Münchner Kammerspiele cooperated with the Papier Tiger Theater Studio
The audience sits on three sides around the empty playing area on which the nine-person ensemble initially throws or rolls two balls.
It is a picture as simple as it is expressive: Little by little the three actresses and six actors leave the seat - at first the rallies pick up speed, it gets more exciting.
But the fewer people participate, the higher the error rate;
in the end, Erwin Aljukić throws the ball up for himself a few times - then it jumps out of his hand.
The production in the Münchner Kammerspiele lasts two hours
The two-hour staging, which would have unfolded an even greater intensity a little shortened, is a real matter of the heart.
Superficially it's about the organ - and yet the evening also tells about human coexistence.
The starting point is three texts, all of which report on the intrusion of the stranger into a perfectly furnished environment: Franz Kafka's posthumously published work “Der Bau”, written in 1923, Jean-Luc Nancy's “The Intruder” from 1999, and a 1700-year-old Chinese text by Tao Yuanming, "The Peach Blossom Spring".
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“Heart Chamber Fragments” brings wonderful pictures to the Therese-Giehse-Halle of the Münchner Kammerspiele.
© Judith Buss / Münchner Kammerspiele
The focus is on Kafka (1883-1924), who lets his underground architect (an animal? A human?) Report about his “building”, which has long since appeared to be part of his body. The narrator reacts in panic to a possible burglar. The French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy (1940-2021) perceives his heart as such - his own sick organ as well as the foreign one that is transplanted to save his life. Finally, “The Peach Blossom Spring”, written by Tao Yuanming (365-427) in the 4th century, also depicts the fear of strangers. The inhabitants of a hidden paradise fear the discovery and thus the destruction of their utopia: “But you shouldn't tell the people outside about us!” They urge a fisherman who has found them by chance.
"Heart Chamber Fragments" mixes theater, dance and martial arts
Tian Gebing and his ensemble choose a very physical approach from dance, sport and various martial arts disciplines to the materials.
In addition, the staging repeatedly conjures up wonderfully beautiful images in the hall of the Münchner Kammerspiele, to which the unobtrusive, yet skilful lighting design by Christian Schweig contributes.
However, the concept does not always work.
Especially in the first fragment, which is based on Nancy, text (with German / Chinese subtitles) and movement rarely really come together.
A lot gets stuck here - also due to the ultimately superfluous use of film clips - in the style of a Knoff-Hoff show.
Quite different, however, with Kafka, the strongest part of this production.
Cindy Ng and Martin Weigel succeed in playing with and against each other out of dance and struggle that actually goes to the heart.
Long, enthusiastic applause.
Here you can read our review of “Effingers”, the first season premiere at the Münchner Kammerspiele.
