Drama

The repertoire for the 5th season of the Basel company is diverse and challenging, just like the world that dictates it. «To be spared by fate is neither shame nor glory, but it is a portent.» Dürrenmatt formulated, and thus the task of sharpening one's own attitude to the pressing issues of the present. We often need laughter in order to open ourselves up to criticism and to each other. We look forward to shared theater experiences and conversations with you that invite personal and shared reflection.

The opening of the season ‹Doktor Watzenreuthers Vermächtnis - Ein Wunschdenkfehler› by Christoph Marthaler heralds a whole series of plays that deal with Swiss silence. These include the new production by Antú Romero Nunes ‹Die Krume Brot› – a play about Swiss poverty and migration history by author Lukas Bärfuss.

Fairy tales continue to have a powerful impact on our ideas of (female) identity. The fact that they can also be reinterpreted is shown in ‹Was ist das Kind so schön›. A production that we are showing in the context of the Paula Rego exhibition at the Kunstmuseum. In the novel ‹Empusion› by Polish Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk, mythological figures – the Empusen – also take revenge on men who cultivate their misogynistic world view in a climatic health resort reminiscent of Davos.

Tennessee Williams› classic ‹Die Glasmenagerie› deals in a highly dramatic way with how a family is shattered by its illusions.In ‹Es wär so schade wenn du das verpasst›, Jetse Batelaan explores the misguided feeling that the (better) life always takes place where you are not.

Several works, including the ‹Chroniken vom Mars›, tell of how we are entangled in violence even under peaceful circumstances. Philippe Quesne's theme is that the exploitation of people and nature is a prerequisite for our way of life. In Brecht's ‹Mann ist Mann›, a man ends up in the military by chance, becomes completely absorbed in his new role and runs straight into war with the masses.In ‹Was wir im Feuer verloren›, Manuela Infante applies a kind of «enchanted philosophizing» to our burning world. 
At the end of the season, the ‹Ode an die gewaltbereite Jugend Europas› pleads for artistic resistance to violence.

Long live the play!

Piece Laboratory

Click here to go to the Basler Compagnie blog. Debates, news and information about the work of Theater Basel's drama department and its model of co-determination. Plus all information about the programme at the Alte Billettkasse.

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