Ex Bibliotheca

The life and times of Zack Weinberg.

Wednesday, 12 November 2003

# 8:30 PM (GMT+1)

Packed and boarded another ICE train at 1:28 sharp today, bound for the Berlin Ostbahnhof. The ICE can run at up to 250kph on these long routes, and it's only 750km as the wolf runs, but it still takes six hours from Offenburg. I imagine not all the track can handle the top speed; also, there are a lot of stops.

The countryside is going by too fast to take pictures. It's lots of deciduous forest — turning red and gold and brown at this time of year — or else farmland, lying fallow for the winter. As we go north and east the terrain is getting hillier. The train goes over lots of long bridges over entire valleys. There's farming in the valleys and the hills are left to forest.

I can't get a good sense of the cities we're stopping in, from just the train stations. They seem more compact than I'm used to from America. In general, Germany is densely populated but still manages to have lots of open country, and i suspect this is due to the preference for building compactly.

# 8 AM (GMT+1)

Dara arrived at two PM. We went for another walk, staying close to the city center this time. We found evidence that there is a juvenile population in this city after all — for instance, the curious climbing gym outside the Technisches Rathaus.

Then we went out for food. Dara tells me that all the fast-food places have no seating because the German custom is to hang on to a table for hours once you have it. This also explains why the waiters at the sit-down eateries are so slow to bring the bill. ("What, leaving already? Is something wrong?")

At six-thirty we went to the theater where Dara's play, Human Bombing was to be held. This is the "Reithalle" on the Moltkestraße, fairly close to the Musik,-Kunstschule I visited earlier today. Outside there was a group of people with candle lanterns dancing around in a circle; we inquired and were told that today is the feast of St. Martin, which is always celebrated in this fashion.

There weren't very many people come to the play, which was a surprise — the Berliner Compagnie can usually draw a full house just on its reputation. The organizers suspected that the local bishop, or someone else locally important in the Catholic Church, had spoken against the play on account of its being slightly antireligious.

The play itself was in Dara's usual style. There were four actors, all of whom were onstage the whole time, although one of them occasionally would hide behind part of the set. Each had a primary character that they would play most of the time, but they would all take other roles as needed. Also, generally only one or two of the primary characters would be taking an active role at a time; the other actors would form a chorus, in the Greek style, which would dialogue with the active named characters. Finally, all the spoken dialogue was counterpointed with gesture and rhythm, backed up by a drummer to one side of the stage.

Knowing only little German I was not able to follow the plot in detail, but the staging conveyed the gist fairly well. It's a rewrite of the aftermath of the Trojan War. Victorious Agamemnon claims that, while Troy is defeated, Paris and Helen have escaped to Babylon; so he wants to to carry the war onward to conquer it too. In this he is opposed by Clytemnestra and Electra, who are sick of war. Orestes at first delights in the prospect of more military glory, but comes around to Electra's position later in the play. (Resemblances to present day events are intentional.)

After the play the whole company went out for dinner and drinks. This being the last day Dara is on tour with the troupe, we all stayed up very late indeed, drinking round after round of beer and discussing last-minute adjustments to the play. I regret to say I cannot keep up with the Germans when it comes to serious drinking.

Metaphor of the week, as stated by one of the actors: "Helma called Dara to direct, as one might call a spirit, and then could not control her as well as she might have liked. Compare to the story of Faust."