“Heidi is crying” settles the sexism of the Klum cosmos in the workroom of the Münchner Kammerspiele.
The premiere review.
No matter how vehemently the public discusses #MeToo and sexual violence - in the program “Germany's Next Top Model” (GNTM) on Pro Sieben, girls are still given a different life goal.
The women should be slim, cuddly, a little submissive and skillfully smiling away from all difficulties.
Today as before.
In her mixture of sanctimonious hostel mother and merciless dominatrix, animal trainer Heidi Klum watches over the selection of her long-legged women.
Diversity, even just physical, is only asserted here and not seriously celebrated.
A whole generation of young girls has grown up with the values and ideals that Heidi and her jurors shout out into the world.
Any criticism of the format as a symptom of a sexist-patriarchal society, however sharp, justified and original or elegant and subtle it may be, just seems to come to nothing.
“Heidi is crying” celebrates imperfection
Can art and theater change that? A pious wish, but the authors Dennis Seidel and Julia Weber, with six colleagues from the Kammerspiel Ensemble and the director Nele Jahnke, developed an exciting evening from this idea. "Heidi cries - a gathering of feelings" is the name of her performance in the Werkraum, which skillfully forces you to question and question your own ideas of beauty over and over again.
What would the glossy world of Klums GNTM look like if there was a place for weakness, for infirmity, disability, in short for this imperfection that is completely familiar from everyday life?
The purist stage is still in the semi-darkness, when the first actresses are already beginning the preparations for their big appearance on the show: the tripping with the high-heeled shoes does not work out properly.
The dance steps still seem a bit awkward.
The glitter dresses sparkle nicely in the increasing light.
But tension on the stomach or sit too loosely on the buttocks.
The first announcements in front of the microphone also make it clear - “Heidi is crying” celebrates the imperfection, as urgently as it is emphatically.
The ensemble is enthusiastic about it
And absolutely great when everyone dance and sing together to Cher's “Believe” or recite the silly poem from the Boomerang in an endless loop.
With little effort, director Nele Jahnke unmasks the entire absurdity of events like GNTM and exposes the hollow banality behind the lacquered, illusory world.
The well-chosen ensemble plowed through this premiere with enthusiasm.
Julia Graefner, who recently had one of the most touching scenes in “Effingers” as the grieving mother of someone who died of flu, shapes “Heidi weeping” in an inimitable way with her haunting presence and admirable physical effort.
Next performances
on November 8th and 9th;
Telephone 089/23 39 66 00.
