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"Richard III." Actors Eidinger, Ostermeier in Paris: Don't stare so romantically!
Photo: Elisabeth Tobisch / Schaubühne
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Eidinger, since 2015 you have appeared with eight colleagues in the Schaubühne version of Shakespeare's play »Richard III.«, in the title role. Now you performed the play as a solo number at the Théâtre Les Gémeaux in Paris over the weekend, assisted on stage only by your director Thomas Ostermeier. Do all actors dream of being able to play all the roles in one play, following the motto "Let me play the wall too" from another Shakespearean play?
Eidinger:
No.
The Paris performance of »Richard III.« is an attempt in which we ask ourselves the question: How does theater actually work on its own?
It should quietly serve to prove the opposite.
That theater doesn't work alone.
That the great fun and joy of theater is playing together.
Of course you need the others.
Incidentally, I only play Richard in this version myself.
All other roles are read and played by Thomas Ostermeier.
SPIEGEL:
How did that come about?
Eidinger:
We wanted to take the Schaubühne production to a guest performance in Paris, all ten performances were sold out.
There were concerns about the corona situation and the health risks, and the Schaubühne works council vetoed travel to Paris.
That's understandable, but it broke my heart.
Thomas Ostermeier and I have an incredibly close connection to France, nowhere is the audience as loyal and passionate as here.
That's why we thought about performing the evening as a public rehearsal.
SPIEGEL:
So it was just the two of you who traveled to Paris?
Eidinger:
Our team now consists of five people. If we were to show the performance regularly, it would be around 35. Of course, we made it clear within the theater that our attempt was not meant to be disrespectful towards the colleagues who stayed at home. We describe the situation to the audience at the beginning of the performance: that because of the pandemic we can only play in this way. We say that failure is part of this performance. There is no culture of failure in our society, even in films, mistakes are simply removed in the editing. The theater, on the other hand, is a place where both the spectators and the actors still expose themselves to failure. That's great quality.
SPIEGEL:
Did something really go wrong when you and Thomas Ostermeier married King Richard III.
played almost alone?
Eidinger:
Yes, yes.
Constant.
We're basically showing a public rehearsal.
And we're sticking to Helene Weigel, who said: »Do you have an idea?
Forget them!« At the beginning we describe to the audience the prerequisites for the evening: we only have one actor and we want to tell »Richard III.«.
We ask: How can this work?
And we let people participate in our deliberations.
SPIEGEL:
In the pictures of the quasi-solo performance, which Thomas Ostermeier calls a "monological fantasy," the two of you almost look like lovers.
Eidinger:
We are lovers.
In the Bible love is equated with knowledge.
In Thomas, with whom I have been working since 1999, I have found someone who recognizes me.
Who gives me a space in which I can reveal myself and in which I can also recognize myself.
We actually have an intimate, very erotic relationship.
There is no one in the world who has given me as much space to develop as a personality like Thomas Ostermeier.
more on the subject
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Lars Eidinger on the discourse climate: "And then the debates are so moral"
Lars Eidinger's comeback as a "crime scene" killer: the psycho as a pop star by Christian Buß
Matthias Brandt returns to the theater stage: men's confession in the spaceship Orion by Wolfgang Höbel
MIRROR:
Were there any relationship crises over the long term?
Eidinger:
That's part of it.
So it's good that we're coming together again in this work.
That you become aware of what you have in each other and hold on to each other.
Because of course neither of us go into the event without fear.
SPIEGEL:
How did the audience react?
Eidinger:
It was unforgettable.
I thought it happened exactly what we wanted.
We showed how we work.
It's a misunderstanding that the director always tells the actor what to do.
Thomas and I work very equally.
He's just as interested in my criticism and help as I am in his feedback.
This reciprocity took place on the stage in Paris.
SPIEGEL:
Is the performance so good that next time, if given the choice, the audience might prefer to see that evening rather than the perfect production?
Eidinger:
No, I'm very sure of that.
But we have, as Brecht teaches, exhibited the processual nature of the theater - "Show that you are showing," or to put it another way: "Don't stare so romantically!"