Hierarchies Be Gone!: Collaboration and Dramaturgy in Castorf’s Die Kabale der Scheinheiligen (The C
Performers and technical designers have important roles in the creation of theatre; roles that change constantly depending on how their primary function as people with minds of their own are viewed in the first place. This is evident in Frank Castorf’s Die Kabale der Scheinheiligen (Die Kabale der Scheinheiligen 2017), a production that explores the relationship of a sinister political world and artists agency within it through the central figures of Louis XIV and Moliere, and Stalin and Mikhail Bulgakov. In the case of Castorf, one of the factors that produces the intense fervent energy that constantly propels the six hour show forward has much to do with the performers own agency and ability to invest themselves in the material built in rehearsals and performance.
In an interview conducted by Marion Canelas, it’s interesting to note Castorf’s use of ‘we’ as opposed to ‘I' when discussing the creation of the show: "we agree on a number of plays and texts that will serve as references...during rehearsals, we see which ones we can use and which ones we can’t. I wouldn’t call it a basic structure” (CITE). This collaborative use of ‘we’ extends to all roles of production and design in the rehearsal process which refers to anyone present in the building of the performance text and this allows for a type of learning Kim Yasuda calls action research. Action research advocates for the removal of "the traditional separation between theory and practice” and "moves toward new forms of critical engagement that are not necessarily singular or focused in pursuit, but are complex, public, and collaborative in nature” (Hunter and Riley 2009). Castorf incorporates action research in Die Kabale in a way that allows every member to contribute their knowledge into a greater work that builds a collective foundation of dramaturgical understanding of the performance text.
While Behrndt and Turner discuss the idea that "the dramaturg's work is visible to the director or actors who discuss the play, concept or process with them” but that “analysis, feedback, support, critical perspectives and research leave no trace” (Behrndt and Turner 166), Castorf defies that notion. The dramaturgical knowledge is evident in everything onstage: be it the representation of church -with religion and ideology- and state -political and economic power- as defining factors for interferences and dependencies of theatre artists’ work or parallels of different historical figures presented, the set, the performers, and the incorporation of multimedia all work in a complex relationship where each aspect is aware of the other. This finished product is an exciting and fast-paced melting pot of exploration and storytelling that is only possible when the strict theatrical hierarchy of labor division in conventional theatre making is abolished.
Works Cited
Behrndt, Synne K., and Cathy Turner. "The Production Dramaturg." Dramaturgy and
Performance. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. 146-67. Print.
Canelas, Marion, and Castorf, Frank. Die Kabale der Scheinheiligen (program). Festival d’Avignon, July 2017, Avignon. n.p.
Die Kabale der Scheinheiligen. By Mikhaïl Boulgakov, Pierre Corneille, Rainer Werner
Fassbinder, Molière, Jean Racine. Dir. Frank Castorf. Perf. Jeanne Balibar, Jean-Damien
Barbin, Frank Büttner, Jean Chaize, Brigitte Cuvelier, Georg Friedrich, Patrick
Güldenberg, Sir Henry, Hanna Hilsdorf, Rocco Mylord, Sophie Rois, Lars Rudolph,
Alexander Scheer, Daniel Zillmann. Parc des Expositions, Avignon. Performance. 13
July 2017
Hunter, Lynette, and Shannon Rose. Riley. Mapping landscapes for performance as research: scholarly acts and creative cartographies. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Print.
