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ABSTRACT
Brecht and Weills Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny has enjoyed increased
popularity in recent years and has inspired innovative directorial approaches to its
staging. Successful productions such as La Fura dels Baus at the Teatro Real
(2010), Andreas Homokis at the Komische Oper (2006), Benedikt von Peters at the
Theater Bremen (2012), and Calixto Bieitos at the Vlaamse Opera (2011) all relate
the themes of this opera to our present time in creative ways. This paper examines
the links between audience research, directors theatre, post-dramatic theatre, actual
stagings, and the performing text to demonstrate how these recent productions are
significantly shaped by the directors stylistic and philosophical preferences: La Fura
dels Baus stresses physicality and dramatic energy, whereas Homoki emphasizes
understatement and minimalism. Von Peters concept highlights the theatrical
experience and Bieitos approach is motivated by the desire to unsettle the audience.
While Brechts epic theatre aesthetics become a decreasing concern for most of
these directors, Brechts critique of society and the desire to render the topicality of
the opera is a common denominator in all of these productions. A broader
understanding of how Brechts notions of theatre transpire today is necessary to
understand recent developments in this operas twenty-first-century stagings.
Keywords: Performance study--stagings of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny-Kurt Weill--post-dramatic theatre--directors theatre--epic theatre-Verfremdungseffekte--audience research--theatrical event--acting in opera--La Fura
1
Anette Guse (Ph.D., Queens University, Kingston, Canada) is Associate Professor of German at the
University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, Canada. She researches music and dance theatre,
German cinema, and language pedagogy, and has published on the Baroque Hamburg Opera, Pina
Bausch, Fatih Akin, and the medium of film in teaching German. Her current research deals with
stagings of Brech and Weills opera Mahagonny.
del Baus--Measha Brueggergosmann-Pablo Heras Casado--Andreas Homoki-Komische Oper--Benedikt von Peters--Theater Bremen--Calixto Bieito--Vlaamse
Opera
Regarding the most frequently produced musical works by Brecht and Weill,
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny has always been a close second to the
Threepenny Opera. Performance calendars of the last few years, however, suggest
that the opera currently enjoys particular appeal amongst opera directors, a trend
that invites critical consideration.2 Since its first post-war production in Darmstadt,
Germany (1957), the opera has seen an approximate 230 national and international
productions;
significantly, the 1960s and the 1990s saw more productions than
other decades.4 The increased popularity of Mahagonny can be related to the volatile
political and cultural climates of these eras. Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny
is an opera favourite during times of impeding and actual political change.
At the 11th International Brecht Symposium, Mahagonny was the conference
theme and the question of how theatre and music function in society was one of the
core issues explored. According to Heinz Uwe Haus,5 one of the important
realizations of the IBS on Mahagonny was the notion of the historicity of theatrical
narration. Broadly understood, the concept describes how theatre-works, including
their production and performance, are rooted in and correlate to their historical,
cultural, and socio-political contexts. Differing contexts will consequentially produce
different stagings.6 In addition to the context of a production, the production and
reception history of a theatrical work needs to be taken into account. Stephen Hinton
argues that production and reception history are essential to establishing an
2
See for example the performance calendar of the KURT WEILL FOUNDATION,
http://kwf.org/current-news/performance-calendar
3
Information obtained through performance calendar search function on UNIVERSAL EDITION
website, http://www.universaledition.com/performances-and-calendar and per e-mail correspondence
with the Universal Edition from 18th, 22nd and 28th November 2012.
4
By decade the number of new productions national and international are as follows:1960-1970: 62;
1970-1980: 41; 1980-1990: 33; 1990-2000: 49; 2000-2010 :34; 2010-presently: 16.
5 HAUS, Heinz Uwe. Review of Marc Silberman and Florian Vassen, guest eds. Mahagonny.com (the
Brecht Yearbook, 29). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2004. German Studies Review 29.2
(2006):459.
6See for example also KNOWLES, Ric. Reading the Material Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2004.
authoritative performing text. . . . The context contributes to the text, even becomes
part of it. Documents of reception history, in particular reviews, convey the
complexion and impact of the event. To that extent they are indispensable facets of
the work.7 Similarly, Balme notes that recent theatre studies points a way forward
that integrates, rather than separates out, production and reception.8 The recent
methodological shift in audience research toward the broader frame of the
theatrical event9 also suggests that questions of perception and reception be taken
into consideration.
In regards to contemporary stagings of Mahagonny, the influence of postdramatic theatre and the resulting importance of the directors authority have not yet
been adequately explored, especially in comparison to the role of Brechts epic
theatre aesthetics.10 The paradigm shift in post-dramatic theatre towards the
spectator, performance, and production is indeed a significant influence on many
contemporary stagings.11 In particular, the 2010 staging of Mahagonny by La Fura
dels Baus, when contrasted with other recent stagings (Andreas Homokis in 2006,
Benedikt von Peters in 2012, and Calixto Bieitos in 2011) demonstrates how
differing aesthetic choices regarding setting and costuming, as well as the actors
physical presences and movements on stage, provide differing strategies for relating
the themes of this work to our present time.
Arguably, most opera directors aspire to communicate Mahagonnys topicality
to theatre audiences in the manner described by Willet:
The unpleasant truth is that this works message, unlike that
of the Threepenny Opera, remains as valid as ever in a
society like our own. . . . The important thing, then, in
staging this work is to forget all about the Berlin Cabarets on
the one hand and the marching storm troopers on the other,
7
HINTON, Stephen. Weills Musical Theater. Stages of Reform. Berkeley: University of California
Press: , 2012. xiv-xv.
8
BALME, Christopher. P. The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2008. 45.
9
See SAUTER, Willmar. The Theatrical Event: Dynamics of Performance and Perception. Iowas City:
University of Iowa Press, 2000 and TULLOCH, John. Shakespeare and Chekhov in Production and
Reception: Theatrical Events and Their Audiences. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2005.
10
See for example LODEMANN, Caroline A. Regie Als Autorschaft: Eine Diskurskritische Studie Zu
Schlingensiefs "Parsifal". Gttingen: V&R unipress, 2010.
11
See LEHMANN, Hans-Thies. Postdramatisches Theater. Frankfurt am Main: Verlag der Autoren,
1999.
engagement
with
the
operatic
genre
are
complex
and
occasionally
contradictory,Brecht influentially argues for the necessity to renew the opera, to rid it
of its past excesses and make it speak to contemporary audiences (my emphasis).14
In this regard, relating the methods of Regieoper (Regieoper is an analogue term to
Regietheater, i.e., directors theatre) to Brechts theatre aesthetics proves
compelling. As persuasively articulated by Joy Calico,15 Brechts concept of
estrangement is the dominant aesthetic of todays Regieoper, or radical productions
of canonical operas. What is more, she suggests that the epic theatre audience
12 WILLETT, John. Introduction. Bertolt Brecht. The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny: And, the
Seven Deadly Sins of the Petty Bourgeoisie. Eds. John Willet and Ralph Manheim. New York: Arcade
Pub, 1996.(xx)
13
BRECHT, Bertolt. Anmerkungen zur Oper Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. (Notes to the
Opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) Schriften zum Theater.vol 2. 1918-1933. Ed.Werner
Hecht.F rankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1963
14
MORLEY, Michael. Review. Joy H. Calico. Brecht at the Opera; and Steve Giles (Transl. And
Editor) Bertolt Brecht, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Kurt Weill Newsletter 26.2 (2008):1314.
15
CALICO, Joy H. Brecht at the Opera. Berkely: University of California Press, 2008.
See for example, BENNETT, Susan. Theatre Audience: A Theory of Production and Reception.
London, New York: Routledge, 1990.
17
FISCHER-LICHTE, Erika, Clemens RISI and Jens ROSELT. Auffhrung der Kunst Kunst der
Auffhrung. Berlin: Theater der Zeit, 2004. 144.
18
SAUTER, Willmar. The Theatrical Event: Dynamics of Performance and Perception. Iowa City:
University of Iowa Press, 2000. 2.
19
Ibid, page 3
20
Ibid, page 3
practical
exercise,
an
aggressive
During the last 15 years, La Fura dels Baus started to specialize in opera
stagings ranging from Mozart to Wagner because they saw opera as the
ultimate genre for its theatrical philosophy:
La Fura is characterized by its explorations of a complete total theatre
experience. In opera the company has found a perfect territory to continue
developing its creativity. Although traditionally the musical aspect of an opera
has
taken precedence over the theatrical aspects, in recent decades, and because
21
La Fura dels Baus, El manifest canalla (1983-84), quoted in FELDMANN, Sharon G. Scenes from
the Contemporary Barcelona Stage: La Fura dels Baus Aspiration to the Authentic. Theatre Journal
5.4 (1998): 447.
22
Self-commentary on website, accessed on 24/05/2012, self comment no longer on website, see
also SAUMELL, Merc (translated by Simpn Breden, Maria M. Delgado, and Lourdes Orozco). La
The final scene, in contrast, matches the musical culmination with the visual
spectacle of Jimmy being burned at the stake. Meanwhile, the city of Mahagonny is
in flames as the mass demonstration with placards carries on.25 Similarly departing
25
See MILNES, Rodney. Video Recording Review: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Teatro
Real, Madrid, 2010. Kurt Weill Newsletter 29.2 (2011): 16.
HERRSCHER,Roberto. Review of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. Teatro Real Madrid,
Premiere: 30 September 2010, Kurt Weill Newsletter 28.2 (2010): 18-20.
INGENDAAY, Paul. Rezension. Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Teatro Real Madrid.
Schuldig ist nur, wer nicht zahlen kann. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 3.10 (2010).
Unlike conventional Brechtian theatre aesthetics, the acting does not aim for
ironic detachment in this production either. Rather, and perhaps inevitably so, La
Fura pronounces the emotional language of text and music through the body
language
and
facial
expressions
of
the
actor-singers.
Thus,
Measha
http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buehne-und-konzert/jubel-in-madrid-schuldig-ist-nur-wer-nichtzahlen-kann-11055194.html
26
FEINGOLD, Michael. Transl.for the Yale Repertory Theatre, 1974. See Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht.
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Chicago: Lyric Opera, 1974.
27
HERRSCHER, Roberto, ibid. Page 20
staging.28 La Fura neither attempted a Brechtian nor a directors theatre style, and
considering the companys typical use of digital media and oversized structures on
stage, the production was rather low-tech. This staging clearly scored points based
on its physicality and the congruency between musical, textual and visual language,
and finally, as critics consistently noted, the high quality of the musical delivery
thanks to conductor Pablo Heras Casado. Bearing in mind, that there is no ideal
production of Mahagonny just as there is no definitive edition,29 however, to some
minds La Furas effective and powerful staging lacks challenge or friction for the
audience. Juchems observation that critics tend to attack a productions political or
aesthetic emphasis, and tend to complain that productions are either too didactic or
too entertaining, shows the two poles of the spectrum regarding audience
response.30
In contrast to La Fura dels Baus staging of Mahagonny, director Andreas
Homokis 2006 staging at the Komische Oper Berlin is considerably more concerned
with rendering Brechtian aesthetics. Homoki clearly applies the notion of separation
of elements. The scenario descriptions are projected in real time, typed computer
script. Similarly, the staging highlights that the actors are acting they pantomime
driving the truck that breaks down and they refer to the projected scenario as if to
remember their lines. The setting is bare: the stage design uses chairs and ladders
and a huge cardboard cube on which citizens of Mahagonny paint key words from
the stage directions.
28
10
Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Komische Oper, Berlin - Foto: Monika Rittershaus
Dreieinigkeits-Moses, Jens Larsen - Leokadja Begbick, Christiane Oertel - Fatty, Christoph
Spth Chorsolisten
Also, a square metal frame with colourful fabric laminate depicts palm trees to
evoke the exotic (Las Vegas?) transformation of Mahagonnys rise to wealth. The
stage construction then spectacularly collapses in the second half of the opera to
visualize the breakdown of its society, further represented by the failure of the
relationships between Jimmy and Jenny and Jimmy and his friends. This staging
chooses to portray the love scene in an understated, non-sexual manner and makes
an interesting statement about the mesmerizing power of money replacing sex.
Amidst the satin cladded party crowd, dollar bills drift down from the ceiling and
Jimmy throws himself into the piles of money, touching and grabbing them erotically.
11
Homokis staging further deviates from the libretto in that it does not show
Jimmy being executed. Instead, the audience experiences Jimmys death
symbolically. His friends and lover abandon him as he lies desolately on the bare
stage covered with dollar bills. In lieu of the demonstration with the slogans on
placards, we see the citizens gathered in groups, only moving ever-so-slightly as
they deliver the final chorus.
Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny,- Jim Mahoney, Kor-Jan Dusseljee - Komische Oper,
Berlin Foto: Monika Rittershaus
BGGEMANN, Markus. Performance Review. Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. Komische
Oper Berlin. Premiere 24. September 2006. Kurt Weill Newsletter 24.2. (2006), 16.
12
32
See BRANDENBURG, Detlev. Review of Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht: Aufstieg und Fall der Stdt
Mahagonny Theater Bremen, 07.10.2012 Die Deutsche Bhne. http://www.die-deutschebuehne.de/Kurzkritiken/Musiktheater/Kurt+Weill+Bertolt+Brecht/Aufstieg+und+Fall+der+Stadt+Mahag
onny/Bremen+Wir+sind; SCHALZ-LAURENZE, Ute. Rezension. Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt
Mahagonny.Theater Bremen, 08.10.2012 Wir sind die Menschen von Mahagonny: Eine
aufsehenerregende Weill-Inszenierung von Benedikt von Peter am Theater Bremen. Neue
Musikzeitung
http://www.nmz.de/online/wir-sind-die-menschen-von-mahagonny-eineaufsehenerregende-weill-inszenierung-von-benedikt-vo;STEINBACH, Ludwig. Review. Aufstieg und
Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. Theater Bremen Premiere am 7/10. 2012. Erlsung der Menscheit durch
Destruktion oder Mitverantwortung des Publikums. http://www.deropernfreund.de/bremen.html
13
14
His staging depicts consumerism and its empty values, as well as social and
gender power structures through the metaphor of obsessive sex and sexual abuse
carried out by some male characters. In this staging, the demonstration in the final
scene moves from the stage to the balconies, where singers and chorus members
join the audience. Interestingly, the setting as well as the theatrically flamboyant
costuming was inspired by lucha libre, a form of Mexican wrestling that also
incorporates extravagant theatre.33
33
15
34
OPERA CAKE. Blogspot. Review of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Flanders Opera in
Antwerp (Vlaamse Opera October 9th 2011. Mahagonny in Antwerp: Whata show! http://operacake.blogspot.ca/2011/10/mahagonny-in-antwerp-whata-show.html
35
MCCANN, John. Review of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. Vlaamse Opera, Ghent and
Antwerp Premier: 21 September 201, Kurt Weill Newsletter 29.2 (2011):19.
16
directors theatre and his staging of the opera offer provocative understandings of the
relationship between libretto, visualization on stage, and music delivery.
The examples above demonstrate an ever-increasing artistic liberty being
taken in directorial approaches to Mahagonny. As a result of the broadening view of
what constitutes a performing text,36 the growing interest in audience research and
the theatrical event, as well as directors theatre and the influence of post-dramatic
theatre, current research is shifting away from the text [i.e. the libretto and the score]
to its staging, and more precisely, to analyzing the strategies of a director in
correlating music, text, and stage direction into a coherent whole. The director as coauthor of the work puts his/her stamp on the staging according to a particular
strength or stylistic preference. La Fura dels Baus focuses on physicality and
dramatic energy, while Andreas Homoki emphasizes understatement and intellectual
playfulness. For Benedikt von Peters staging, the holistic theatrical experience
appears to have been the central factor. Calixto Baritos staging, in comparison, aims
to provoke, disturb, and plead. No doubt, Brechts critique of society and the
topicality of the opera is a common denominator in these productions, even while
Brechts epic theatre aesthetics become a decreasing concern. In our cultural climate
of global crisis, widespread political apathy, and economic instability, Mahagonny still
promises to appear in new versions and variations as opera directors continue to feel
the need to reinterpret, reinvent and, to some degree, even rewrite Mahagonny.
Their stagings, in turn, become part of the operas reception history, and become
indispensable facets of the work themselves.37
BIBLIOGRAPHY
36
37
17
BRANDENBURG, Detlev. Review of Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht: Aufstieg und Fall der
Stdt Mahagonny Theater Bremen, 07.10.2012 Die Deutsche Bhne. http://www.diedeutschebuehne.de/Kurzkritiken/Musiktheater/Kurt+Weill+Bertolt+Brecht/Aufstieg+und+Fall+d
er+Stadt+Mahagonny/Bremen+Wir+sind
BRECHT, Bertolt. Anmerkungen zur Oper Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny.
(Notes to the Opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) Schriften zum
Theater.vol 2. 1918-1933. Ed.Werner Hecht.F rankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1963
BERTOLT Brecht. Kurt Weill, Michael Feingold (Transl.) Rise and Fall of the City of
Mahagonny. Chicago: Lyric Opera, 1974.
CALICO, Joy H. Brecht at the Opera. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008.
FISCHER, Lichte, Erika, Clemens Risi and Jens Roselt. Auffhrung der Kunst
Kunst der Auffhrung. Berlin: Theater der Zeit, 2004.
18
HAUS, Heinz Uwe. Review of Marc Silberman and Florian Vassen, guest eds.
Mahagonny.com (the Brecht Yearbook, 29). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press,
2004. German Studies Review29.2 (2006): 458-459.
HERRSCHER, Roberto. Review of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. Teatro
Real Madrid, Premiere: 30. September 2010, Kurt Weill Newsletter 28.2 (2010): 1820.
INGENDAAY, Paul. Rezension. Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Teatro Real
Madrid. Schuldig ist nur, wer nicht zahlen kann. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
3.10.
(2010):
http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buehne-und-konzert/jubel-in-
madrid-schuldig-ist-nur-wer-nicht-zahlen-kann-11055194.html
JUCHEM, Elmar. Note from the Editor. Kurt Weill Newsletter 25.1 (2005): 3.
19
MCCANN, John. Review of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. Vlaamse Opera,
ghent and Antwerp Premier: 21 September 201, Kurt Weill Newsletter 29.2
(2011):19.
MILNES, Rodney. Video Recording Review: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.
Teatro Real, Madrid 2010. Kurt Weill Newsletter 29.2 (2011): 16.
MORLEY, Michael. Review. Joy H. Calico. Brecht at the Opera; and Steve Giles
(Transl. And Editor) Bertolt Brecht, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Kurt Weill
Newsletter 26.2 (2008): 13-14.
Opera Cake. Blogspot. Review of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Flanders
Opera in Antwerp (Vlaamse Opera) October 9th 2011. Mahagonny in Antwerp: Whata
show!
http://opera-cake.blogspot.ca/2011/10/mahagonny-in-antwerp-whata-
show.html
08.10.2012Wir
sind
die
Menschen
von
Mahagonny:
Eine
Musikzeitung
http://www.nmz.de/online/wir-sind-die-menschen-von-
mahagonny-eine-aufsehenerregende-weill-inszenierung-von-benedikt-vo
STEINBACH, Ludwig. Review. Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. Theater
Bremen Premiere am 7/10. 2012. Erlsung der Menscheit durch Destruktion oder
Mitverantwortung des Publikums. http://www.deropernfreund.de/bremen.html
TULLOCH, John. Shakespeare and Chekhov in Production and Reception:
Theatrical Events and Their Audiences. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2005.
b) before 1945 and between 1945 and 1996: email inquiry from November 19, 2012
WILLETT, John. Introduction. Bertolt Brecht. The Rise and Fall of the City of
Mahagonny: And, the Seven Deadly Sins of the Petty Bourgeoisie. Eds. John Willet
and Ralph Manheim. New York: Arcade Pub, 1996.
21