Rimini Protokoll picks up the thread of Adolf Hitler’s inflammatory pamphlet, trying to discover the reason for the mythical aura surrounding “Mein Kampf”.
German language
Talk following the performance on Fri 02/10
“Mein Kampf” by Adolf Hitler was first published in 1925/26 and had sold millions by the end of World War II. The aura of the “forbidden book” has clung to this propaganda publication for decades, causing it to exert a certain appeal even today. The copyrights managed by the Free State of Bavaria expire at the end of 2015. The debate about whether and in what form the book may be republished is already in full swing – although it is available from antiquarian bookshops and online in Austria, and indeed enjoys steady sales in many countries.
What does the symbolic ban prevent? And what is really behind the mythical aura of “Mein Kampf”? What does it actually say? Does it pose a risk? In their latest production, theatre makers Helgard Haug and Daniel Wetzel set out in search of answers to these questions – in university poison cabinets, in domestic attics, or at foreign flea markets they have picked up the trace of a book that has lost none of its explosive historical and political force even today.
Haug and Wetzel work under the Rimini Protokoll label in various constellations and are counted as among the most renowned theatre makers in the German-speaking world. Their works are based on extensive research and rehearsal work with experts, who will also be on stage in this project. The overall work of Rimini Protokoll was awarded the Silver Lion at the 2011 Venice Theatre Biennale.
Concept, direction and text Helgard Haug & Daniel Wetzel
With Sibylla Flügge, Anna Gilsbach, Matthias Hageböck, Alon Kraus, Christian Spremberg, Volkan T error
On video Joachim Hainzl, Othmar Plöckinger, Moshe Zimmermann
Dramaturgy and research Sebastian Brünger
Set design and video Marc Jungreithmeier, Grit Schuster
Music Volkan T error
Technical coordination and light Andreas Mihan
Company management Heidrun Schlegel
Production management Jenny Flügge
Director's assistant Meret Kiderlen
Set design assistant Cornelius Oswald
Sound assistant Peter Breitenbach
Production guest student Linn Günther
Surtitles KITA – Kleine Internationale Theater Agentur and Brian Bell
Produced by Kunstfest Weimar, Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar & Rimini Apparat
Co-produced by steirischer herbst, Münchner Kammerspiele, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Gessnerallee Zürich & HAU Hebbel am Ufer
Supported by Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus
Funded by Kulturstiftung des Bundes & Regierender Bürgermeister von Berlin – Senatskanzlei – Kulturelle Angelegenheiten
In collaboration with Schauspielhaus Graz
Rimini Protokoll / Helgard Haug / Daniel Wetzel (DE)
Helgard Haug, Stefan Kaegi and Daniel Wetzel met during their theatre studies at the University of Giessen. Since 2000 they have been working together as a team of authors and directors. In 2002 the three named their collective Rimini Protokoll. Although the Berlin-based group also focus on radio and exhibitions as well as theatre, their work always pursues the same objective: it highlights unusual perspectives of reality, although without ever losing sight of it. The German-Swiss collective and its Europe-wide performances have received numerous prizes, including the German theatre award “Der Faust” (special prize, 2007) and the “Silver Lion” at the 41st Theatre Biennale in Venice (2011). Conceived by Kaegi, the play “Radio Muezzin” also appeared at steirischer herbst in 2009. In the same year, Swiss-born Kaegi was also a contributor to the “Randnotizen”. The other two thirds of Rimini Protokoll – Haug and Wetzel – will be guests of steirischer herbst in 2015.
