Fabian. The Walk Before the Dogs

Description

I sat in a large waiting room, and it was called Europe. Eight days later, the train departs. I knew that. But where it was going and what would become of me, no one knew. And now we are sitting again in the waiting room, and again it is called Europe! And again we do not know what will happen. We live provisionally!" When unemployed advertiser Fabian wakes up after the last and the next drunken night at the popular fries stand of the metropolis, he finds himself in enormous conditions. With the last war behind him, the next in his mind, the population indulges in hedonism. "Wonderful," thinks Fabian and falls asleep peacefully again. Shortly thereafter, a small group of concerned people gathers around the motionless young man. Two worn-out operators of a popular fries stand in the metropolis, an expert in international film law, an aspiring Germanist in leather slacks, the men’s brothel owner Frau Moll, and a communist drag queen ask him: "Young man, what now?" He wakes up and replies: "Should I go or not? Why should I move forward? For what and against what? Why am I not at home with my mother, where you can just as well wait for the downfall of Europe? What is the ball in my left buttock doing? Who makes tea for my mother? When will we arrive and with whom? Is there peace when the wars are over?" Together, they decide to investigate further and move to the cousin. Erich Kästner's city novel from 1933 depicts a clairvoyant portrait of a society in upheaval. With sharp wit, grotesque exaggeration, and deep melancholy, Kästner describes the Berlin of the late Weimar Republic, a world full of political radicalization and moral decay, where no one is willing to listen to the other anymore. At the center is the young Fabian as an ironic observer, who finds no action, is driven away in the whirlwinds of the big city, and perishes alone. The ghostly parallels of the novel to the present are often read as a prophecy of their return and an absolute catastrophe. In the RZt, one does not want to trust the cultural pessimist's draft of an inevitable downfall and does not let Fabian stumble alone through the big city. A group of outsiders discusses together the fragility of morality, empathy, and resistance amidst today's crisis experiences in the form of their own texts, drag show elements, and the pounding beats of the house band 21 downbeat. Thus, a flickering cityscape of Berlin emerges, which can probably only be experienced in this form at the RZt. Funded by the Performing Arts Fund from resources of the Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media as well as from resources of the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.

Highlights

• Performance at the RambaZamba Theater
• Addresses life in uncertain times
• A mix of humor and seriousness

General Information

The production "Fabian. The Walk Before the Dogs" explores the challenges and uncertainties of life in the post-war period. The unemployed advertiser Fabian and a colorful group of characters reflect on their future and the societal circumstances in Europe.

Location

Schönhauser Allee 36-39, 10435 Berlin, Germany

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