Битеф

X REČ SELEKTORA

Vrlo duhovit naslov ove predstave istovremeno ukazuje i na njen sadržaj i na njenu formu, Najširi tematski okvir svodi se na licemernu politiku velikih zapadnih sila prema autokratskim režimima u Africi, a koja varira od pomoći civilnom društvu do prodaje oružja. Ovoj ozbiljnoj društvenoj kritici autori predstave pristupaju na reiaksirani način, vrlo duhovito, u vidu svojevrsnog „raštimovanog” džem-sešna koji spaja pies, koncert, performans, U predstavi s naglašenom pop-kulturnom i čak treš estetikom, učestvuju iskusni nemački muzičari, mladi plesači/performeri iz nekoliko afričkih zemalja i, da kuriozitet bude veći, jedna od vodećih nemačkih glumica, An Tismer, poznata publici Bitefa kao Nora iz Ostermajerove režije čuvenog Ibzenovog komada, a koja je u potpunosti napustila institucionalnu scenu i sada nastupa samo na vaninstitucionalnoj. x O PREDSTAVI

Predstava prati biografije bivših nemačkih diplomata u Africi, obogaćene formalnim uobičajenim repertoarom filmskih mjuzikala Žaka Demija, koje karakteriše „srećna nostalgija". Protagonisti preuzimaju status ambasadora, često menjajući uloge i Perspektive, zamagljujud razliku između stvarnosti i fikcije. Ovaj diskurs postkolonijalnih Perspektive i kritičkog istraživanja prošlosti zasnovan je na stvarnim susretima sa nemačkim ambasadorima koji su služili u Sijera Leoneu. Liberiji, Gvineji i Obali Slonovače. Dva glavna ambasadora razvijaju veoma različite strategije ponašanja u specifičnim situacijama kroz koje prolaze u Africi. Tim muzičara i performera iz Obaie Slonovače transformiše narative moći i jaiovosti diplomata, njihovu rezervisanost i umešanost u razne spekulacije; ambasador prerasta u drznika koji mora da se bori za simpatije i pažnju u „domovini”, Ansambli glumaca iz Obale Slonovače i Nemačke, performeri i muzičari, pristupaju obema biografijama na anarhičan način. Neprekidnim menjanjem uloga i perspektiva oni omogućavaju konstantno prožimanje stvarnosti i fikcije. Mnogo je plesa i pevanja, kao i prevođenja, sa jednog jezika na drugi, iz jedne kulture u drugu, iz jednog referentnog okvira, jednog sveta u drugi. Odgovor na pitanje ko tu koga predstavlja može se promeniti svakog trenutka. Priče o moći i bespomoćnosti, distanciranosti i upletenosti, pretvaraju se u briljantnu, spekulativnu igru. Ambasador se sve više pretvara u prostor za projekcije drugih, dok pregovara sa raznim mračnim političarima i vojnim liderima i biva poražen od strane brutalne realnosti nacionaiizma i megalomanije.

x CURATORS’ WORD

The witty title of this production points to both its content and its form. The general thematic frame comes down to the hypocritical policies of the great Western powers towards the autocratic regimes in Africa, varying from helping the civilians to selling weapons. The authors approach this serious social criticism in a relaxed way, very wittily, in a form of a “poorly tuned” jam session which connects dance, concert, performance. Participants in this show with highlighted pop-cultural, even trash aesthetics, are experienced German musicians, young dancers/performers from several African countries and, to make the curiosity even greater, one of the leading German actresses, Anne Tismer, known to the Bitef audience as Nora from Ostermeier’s direction of the famous Ibsen’s play, who has completely abandoned the institutional scene and now performs only in independent projects.

We trace the biographies of former German diplomats in Africa, extended by the formal repertoire of the film musicals by Jacques Demy, which have been attributed with a “happy nostalgia". The protagonists appropriate the ambassadors’ status performatively, changing roles and perspectives frequently, hence blurring the distinction between reality and fiction. This discourse on post-colonial opportunity and the critical examination of the past winds around real encounters with former German ambassadors who served in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Cote d’lvoire. The two principal ambassadors develop very different strategies for comporting themselves in their specific situation in their particular African environment, A team of musicians and performers from Cote d’lvoire and Germany transforms narratives of the diplomats’ power and impotence, aloofness and involvement into a speculative game; the ambassador becomes a presumptuous role, having to vie for sympathy and attention in the "motherland“. The ensemble of Ivorian and German actors, performers and musicians take possession of both biographies anarchicaliy. Their continual change of role and perspective allow reality and fiction to tumble through each other. There is dancing and singing and a lot of translation, from one language into another, from one culture, one frame of reference, one world into the next. Who is representing whom, can change constantly. Tales of power and powerlessness, distance and entanglement turn into a brilliant, speculative play. And the ambassador mutates more and more into a surface for the projections of others while he negotiates with various murky politicians and military leaders and is defeated by the brutal reality of nationalism and megalomania.

x ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

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