Hoping this will become a tradition and since it is almost time to change the calendar (and taking the example ofAndrew Haydon) it wouldn´t hurt to think and verbalize what kind of theater I like. Some heard my presentation at the spring school of the young Estonian theater researchers this June where I listed all the performances I have liked, well, in my entire life and compared them to the story of my life if you want. I strongly advise any critic to do the same since it is a fun ego-trip which will help one to understand what and why his or her tastes are. I believe that a good theater critic must be aware of those reasons and be able to explain them in his/her writings if necessary (reading a lot of Pierre Bourdieu about the habitus has obviously helped to develop that belief). So, the following will be a list of keywords I treasure when it comes to theater, in random order:
Visuality. Theater is a performance art and I want to see that the director has thought about all the sign-systems theater uses (there are thirteen of them, if I remember correctly). Successful performance is an entirety of movement (gestures of actors, choreography ...) and design (sound, costume, light, set ...). That does not mean flamboyant set designs and can-can dancers in the background (thou I do not deny them either), empty stage with almost no movement at all can have the same effect – it´s the directors consideration of different mediums I am after. In 2007 “Portselansuits” (Estonian Drama Theater, director Lauri Lagle), “Angels in America” (TR Warsawa /Poland/, director Krzysztof Warlikowski), “Sonja” (New Riga Theater /Latvia/, director Alvis Hermanis) , “Sortsid (Students Theater of the University of Tartu, director Kalev Kudu) all had that.
Attacking the fourth wall. I find myself more and more dissatisfied with my role as an passive audience and that is why I enjoy all the flirting with the fourth wall I can get. This year “Kajakas” (Von Karhl Theater /Estonia/, director Kristian Smeds), “Deconstruction 07” (Needcompany /Belgium/, director Jan Lauwers) and “Opening Night” (Toneelgroep Amsterdam /The Netherlands/, director Ivo van Hove) did that. But I also feel that I am now ready to take my relationship with the stage to the next level and that flirting is not enough any more (we have been dating for years now). Certain feeling of remorse that I was not the volunteer hit me both after “Kitchen” (Gob Squad /Germany/USA/) and “O_Rex” (CREW /Belgium/, director Eric Joris) – the latter being a huge disappointment with a hope for future success. Although I am not sure I would actually have the courage to participate ... But the most profound experience was “Small metal objects” (Back to Back Theater /Australia/, director Bruce Gladwin) where only ones being on stage were the members of the audience and actors disappeared in the crowd of ordinary people passing the open-air stage.
Games with narrative. My obsession with ways of narrating goes back to the time of writing the BA thesis about structuralism. Give me some anachrony, ellipses and other devices of making the story telling all messed up and I am hooked. No examples from the last year but some interesting experiments like pre-told “Forestillinger” (Club Fisk /Denmark/) or humanless “Stifter´s Things” (Heiner Goebbels /Germany/) or again “Sonja” as a silent monologue with the help of a narrator.
Solid reasons. Performances where I can see that the material burns the director/actors are ones I cherish. This may mean making a strong political argument as in “Dinozord: the Dialogues Series III” (Studios Kabako /DR Congo/, director Faustin Linyekula) but may also be a very personal statement as in the two first parts of the “smaller poorer cheaper” (Acrobat /Australia/). The latter should just as easily figure among the examples of visuality and narrative, being probably the most unexpected experience of the year.
Acting. No, I have not abandoned actors and yearn for moments when your eyes are fixed to someone on stage, forgetting everything else. Ego-ironic Juhan Ulfsak in “Kajakas”, Elsie van Brauw as arrogant prima donna who lost her belief a long time ago in “Opening Night”, frightingly intense even if not in the ray of light Jacek Poniedziałek and Maja Ostaszewska in “Angels in America”, Gundars Āboliņš skilfully massaging oil to the chicken in “Sonja” are the most rememberable.
Previous list is probably is imperfect but as I said: this is work in progress and these are just the keywords that popped to my mind thinking back to the year 2007.
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