THIS SWEET SICKNESS
Multimedia stage play based on Patricia Highsmith
Premiere: October 30, 1997 / Brotfabrik Berlin
Written and directed by Matthias Aberle
Since the marriage of his former girlfriend Annabelle, David has been leading a double life. He has rented a house under a false name, where he spends his weekends without the knowledge of his acquaintances. Here he has built up a dream world in which he imagines he is living with his lover, living together with Annabelle. He is convinced that she loves him and will one day leave her husband to come to him. One day, Annabelle's husband arrives at the weekend house to confront David.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
Musical based on William Shakespeare
Premiere: February 8, 1997 / Music Academy Rheinsberg Castle
Libretto, director: Matthias Aberle
Demi arranges to marry Egi's daughter Hermia, but she loves Lysander - an artist who is not accepted by his father and for whom Demetrius has nothing but a "pah". That is why Demi is not unloved - Helena loves him (Hermia's friend). However, father Egi believes that they must marry Demi. The only option is to flee to the forest. There is a lot of excitement there at the moment. The king of the elves, Oberon, is having a row with his queen Titania. To get one over on Titania, Oberon has the forest spirit Puck fetch a love herb (effect: when you wake up, you fall in love with whoever you see first). And as he has just overheard an argument between Helena and Demetrius, he orders the forest spirit to cast a spell on the Athenian as well. But which one? Puck gets the wrong one - Lysander. To correct his mistake, Demetrius is also enchanted. And suddenly the wrong people are in love. Titania has also been caught, she desires a donkey. This hustle and bustle in the forest eventually becomes too much for Oberon and he sends Puck to fetch the antidote. The morning dawns and the lovers' disenchantment begins.
THE INAUGURAL SPEECH OF THE AMERICAN POPE
Play by Esther Vilar
Premiere: November 28, 1995 / Berlin Cathedral
Adapted and directed by Matthias Aberle
"If God doesn't exist, asks the cynic, doesn't that bring us closer to the people? You bet you do! That's why you need him."
In 2014, a woman ascends the papal throne for the first time. Joan II finds a totally ruined church: the majority of the faithful have migrated to stricter religions, empty, dilapidated churches everywhere, a resigned, impoverished and therefore often corrupt clergy. And even the worldwide television broadcast of the inaugural address of this pope, who has now only been elected for four years, has to be financed by advertising.
"I'm not going to answer you now: all this is not God, it's the devil. Nor am I saying that God's ways are wonderful. I'm telling you this: As harsh as it sounds, your opinion of God doesn't matter at all!"
WAITING FOR GODOT
Play by Samuel Beckett
Premiere: July 1, 1994 / Zoological Garden Berlin
Director: Matthias Aberle
Vladimir and Estragon have a dream: "We want to do something while the opportunity presents itself! We're not needed every day." Many are called, few are chosen. They want to be chosen, saved. All their activity is focused on this: waiting to be chosen. Because then they will enter paradise: "Tonight we might sleep with him, in the warmth, in the dry, with a full belly, on straw. It's worth waiting for, isn't it?"
Salvation is grace, the work of the Savior. They have only one merit: "We are there, as agreed, there is nothing. We are not saints, but we are there as agreed."
Always ready. Their lofty goal is presented to them with concern: "To treat a human being, like this ... I find that ... a human being ... no ... that's a disgrace!" But the first impression is as fleeting as the moment and deceptive. What we want to see is true. "A disgrace! Such a good master! To let him suffer like this! After so many years! Truly!"
Vladimir and Estragon are unable to resolve their absurd relationship either with or against each other, let alone individually, and therefore ideologize their inactivity, their self-abandonment: "What are we doing here, you have to ask yourself. We are lucky enough to know. Yes, in this immense confusion, one thing is clear: we are waiting for Godot to come."