Strange Magic – The Theater Festival of Sophiensaele

Strange Magic – The Theater Festival of Sophiensaele

photo: Rolf Arnold

Maybe you have already heard about the literature contest we launched together with the Sophiensaele theater. The reason we ventured in this new editorial direction is the upcoming international theater festival Strange Magic that will start tomorrow. We are really much looking forward to it not just because our first printed booklet comes out of the press and will be presented during the festival but also because there will be so much interesting theater and perfomances going on. The overall topic is the magical and illusionary in theater. How can stage magic be combined with performance know how? Visibility vs. invisibility, knowledge and power, illusions and disillusions are the focus and point to the current social debate: who is manipulating and fooling whom? In my opinion very interesting questions, which will be hopefully answered in part by the presented pieces. But if you can’t visit the festival, you can still follow our Strange Magic of Berlin stories which we will publish, one by one here on the blog. My recommendations for the individual perfomances after the jump.

Read on…

Oz: The Wonderful Wizard

All pictures: Enrico Nawrath

I am looking at the story of the Wizard of Oz from a feminist perspective right now. Three men and a woman in search of what they are missing the most. While the men are seeking personal attributes (intelligence, emotions, courage), the woman’s wish is just to get away as quickly as possible from this foursome date and go home. Because in contrast to the men she is pretty happy with herself. Iana Salenko who is the lead dancer Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz ballet by the Berlin Staatsballet should have been somewhat less satisfied with her performance. But the versatile qualities of the four male dancers, the colorful costumes and the  creative sets totally made up for that. This piece is definately worth a visit, even for people who are not into ballet. Some impressions and the play times after the jump. In the German version you can read a more detailed review.

Read on…