Theater: WHY DOES HERR R. RUN AMOK? in Munich / BREMEN FREEDOM in Athens
On 27 November the Munich Kammerspiele is presenting the premiere of Susanne Kennedy’s production of Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? The play is based on the film of the same name made by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Michael Fengler, which tells the story of a family man whose conformist, middle-class life leads to homicidal mayhem. Precisely and unpityingly, the film presents its brutal final act as a logical reaction to the many small humiliations that shape R.’s everyday life. Since Hamburg’s Thalia Theatre brought its project Out of Control, which is also based on Fassbinder and Fengler’s film, to the stage in 2002, stage versions have been presented at several renowned theaters, including the Schauspiel Frankfurt and the Staatstheater Stuttgart.
Just one week later, on 3 December, a stage production of Bremen Freedom directed by Nadia Foskolos is premiering at the Metaxourgeio Theater in Athens. As in the case of WHY DOES HERR R. RUN AMOK?, this is a tale involving a murderous coup de liberation. The action revolves around the true story of Gesche Gottfried, who poisoned a number of people with arsenic at the beginning of the nineteenth century and, after being caught in 1831, was publically executed. In his version of the story, Fassbinder does not focus on the barbarity of Gottfried’s actions but rather on the socially stigmatized role as a poor, single woman that drives her to commit these murders. Fassbinder originally wrote the piece as a play for the Schauspielhaus Bremen, where he frequently worked during the 1970s. He made the film version in 1972 for the television broadcaster Saarländischer Rundfunk
More information
WHY DOES HERR R. RUN AMOK?:
Film information: http://ww3.fassbinderfoundation.de/movies/warum-lauft-herr-r-amok/?lang=en
Website of the Munich Kammerspiele:
http://www.muenchnerkammerspiele.de/warum-laeuft-herr-r-amok-why-does-herr-r-run-amok/
Coming performances:
Thurs, 27 Nov 8 p.m., premiere
Mon, 1 Dec 8 p.m.
Sat, 6 Dec 8 p.m.
Sat, 13 Dec 8 p.m.
Sun, 28 Dec 7 p.m.
BREMEN FREEDOM:
Information on BREMEN FREEDOM: http://ww3.fassbinderfoundation.de/movies/bremer-freiheit/?lang=en
Website of the Metaxourgeio Theater: http://www.metaxourgeio.com/en/
Photos: © RWFF