Chronicle by Raoul Horn
History is an autoimmune disease. And not only the great history, full of Napoleons and Mozarts, but also the one of which we were born, which we are strictly a part of. And we are sick of it without knowing, without reading the diagnosis on the sheet, without asking any doctor. But is there a doctor who can cure us of history?
Until we find one, if we find him, let's return to Am Ziel, to the destination, where it all stops. A simple destination, a small man, the end of the world. When we reach the destination, everything is upside down. Even when we approach it, we feel helplessly attracted to the cold convenience that surrounds the "purpose of the trip." Katwijk is a destination overlooking the dull stretch of the North Sea. One morning, the mother is also gloomy. The widow, having a girl with seizures of retard, is depressed by the time she has to spend in the old family house, where, slowly, the ceiling and the parquet soaked in teas, coffees, broken cups, and lots of brandy will become one.
Mainly, the subject that stirs her thoughts is a show seen the night before, based on a play written by a so-called young playwright. As normal as a blink, the mother invites him to come with them on the trip to Katwijk. For the first time in twenty years, they are accompanied by a stranger. There are so many strangers in me. And through this show that simply talked about my thoughts, the mother begins to define the state of putrefaction, hypocrisy, and absurdity in which the theatre is found. When we receive slaps, one after the other, we continue to applaud. All this is caused by the frustrations related to the family foundry that was sold as if it did not exist, by the obelisk carver who asks for an exorbitant amount for the husband's grave.
A static show, where silence is also an actor. With the arrival of the playwright (who seems not to feel comfortable at all), they all leave for the villa in Katwijk. Katwijk, yeah, that place, yeah. At Thomas Bernhard, summer is the time when people freeze to death. Paralyzing. Cold to the marrow of the spirit. But what's hot is the thought. Am Ziel is a feverish thought, encrusted in ice.
The stage is almost empty. A few tin suitcases, two insipid couches and mobile hangers on which cloths hang like ghosts, while the clothes are always being packed and unpacked. As a counterpoint of the static is the art of the actor, rudimentary, cruel, unblemished by anything else. Actor, situation, text, madness. All's well that ends well.
The world in its smiling absurdity is a conglomerate of grace and vomit.
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“Theatre Chronicle @ Eurothalia” is a programme conceived by Daniela Șilindean together with the team of the German State Theatre Timișoara, within the Eurothalia 2023 European Theatre Festival, held between 20-30 September 2023, financed by the National Cultural Program Timișoara - European Capital of Culture in 2023.
