Theatre | The 10 Selected Productions

Orpheus steigt herab

By Tennessee Williams
German translation by Wolf Christian Schröder

Münchner Kammerspiele

Premiere 29 September 2012

Orpheus steigt herab, © Julian Röder

Orpheus steigt herab. Wiebke Puls © Julian Röder

Launch party 19 May 2013, following the performance
with DJ Grace Kelly

Public discussion 20 May 2013, following the performance
Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Bornemann Bar / Kubus
with the ensemble and Christoph Leibold (jury)
Moderation Barbara Burckhardt

A rarely performed play about a repressive society hounding outsiders. Sebastian Nübling resists the temptation to update it at all costs. And yet he lifts it from the specific small-town cosmos designed by Tennessee Williams.

A chain swing carousel hangs from the flies, incomplete to begin with. One by one, grocery store owner Lady Torrance fits light bulbs and seats, trying to make it fit to run. She is assisted by Val, a night club singer lost in Williams’ bourgeois Hades like Orpheus in the underworld. An awkward romance buds between the careworn lady played by Wiebke Puls and the elusive Val. Played by Estonian actor Risto Kübar, he doesn’t only epitomize the foreign, he represents everything different per se. This sad couple’s attempt to break society’s chains ends in most cruel failure. The majority pack barks its threats and finally bites with no mercy. A terribly beautiful production of timeless significance.

www.muenchner-kammerspiele.de

Directed by Sebastian Nübling
Stage design Eva-Maria Bauer
Costume design Pascale Martin
Music Lars Wittershagen
Lighting design Stephan Mariani
Dramaturgy Julia Lochte

Dolly Hamma Angelika Krautzberger
Beulah Billings / Nurse Porter Annette Paulmann
Pee Wee Billings Lasse Myhr
Dog Hamma Tim Erny
Carol Cutrere Sylvana Krappatsch
Uncle Pleasant Christian Löber
Val Xavier Risto Kübar
Vee Talbott Çigdem Teke
Lady Torrance Wiebke Puls
Jade Torrance / Sheriff Talbott Jochen Noch
David Cutrere Lasse Myhr
Eva Temple Marianne Russ