SWAN SONGS. UA after Schubert

TEXTVERSIONEva-Maria Höckmayr
EQUIPMENTAngela Loewen
DRAMATURGYMatthias Heilmann
MUSICAL SETUPBarbara Rucha
WITH:Renate Heuser
Oliver Bode
Christoph Angerer
Frank Watzke
Robert Pertl (singing)
Konstantin Semilakovs (piano)
Pellegrini-Quartett

“It is a clever and well thought-out experimental arrangement that director Eva-Maria Höckmayr has created for her project… (…) Höckmayr demands interaction, interweaves musicians, music, words and performers to create a new dimension of experience. Nevertheless, with consistent leadership, she maintains the overview in this choreography, which could be confusing, yet remains clear and goes far beyond a mere illustration of what is being performed. (…) Eva-Maria Höckmayr’s courageous experiment with all kinds of theatre seduces us to let go and dive into a stage world that absorbs all our attention and ultimately turns out to be a homage to life. How wonderful that theatre can be like this.”

Sabine Rempe, Fürther Nachrichten, 23.1.10

“Eva-Maria Höckmayr’s literally moving ‘Variations on Life and Death’, which are offered as an impressively staged ‘Swan Song’ at the Fürth Kulturforum, are not satisfied with an ordinary theatre performance – they lift off the ground, break through the boundaries of the genre and seduce the great fears into a small smile. (…) A cleverly devised directorial work that exists as a simultaneously functioning art piece without becoming obtrusive. (…) The evening is also a fulfilled dream of musical theatre that can be both clever and sensual.”

Dieter Stoll, Evening Newspaper Nuremberg, 23.1.10

“Höckmayr pours plenty of sand into the gears of a modern society that represses death with her homemade text montages, quick scenic changes and ambiguous stage design. A challenging evening for the focus that, after evaluating audience reaction, may manifest itself as true love at second sight.”

Karin Lederer, Nürnberger Nachrichten, 23.1.10