THE BERLIN SOFA

Berlin-based celebrities from English-language countries read from their favourite authors´ works.

Berlin has always attracted the courageous, travellers, and people with a penchant for the modern-day city. Since the Twenties when, for example, the English writer Christopher Isherwood lived in the German capital for five years and wrote "The Berlin Stories" that inspired the famous musical “Cabaret ”, Berlin has been a centre for artists and intellectuals across the globe. The Fall of the Wall and the second internationalisation of Berlin enhanced the city's appeal, and today Berlin is home to a large number of international artists, scientists and business people.

Since 1990, the English Theatre Berlin has hosted many international guests, either on stage or in the audience. Now we want a special few on the stage. As part of the 20th Anniversary Season, the English Theatre Berlin launched a series of readings where celebrities from English-speaking countries living and working in Berlin read from their favourite authors' works.

Berlin war immer schon eine attraktive Stadt für Wagemutige, für Reisende und für Menschen mit einem Faible für die moderne Großstadt, und seit der englische Schriftsteller Christopher Isherwood, der die Vorlage für das Berlin-Musical „Cabaret“ lieferte, im Jahre 1929 die deutsche Hauptstadt für sich endeckte (und dort bis 1933 lebte), hat Berlin seine magische Anziehungskraft für Künstler und Intellektuelle nie mehr verloren. Der Fall der Mauer 1989 und damit einhergehend eine erneute Internationalisierung Berlins als kulturelle Metropole Mitteleuropas hat diese Attraktivität nur noch intensiviert, und inzwischen leben und arbeiten eine ganze Reihe namhafter Persönlichkeiten aus vielen Kulturen in Berlin.

Das English Theatre Berlin hat in den vergangenen zwanzig Spielzeiten immer wieder internationale Gäste begrüßen können, ob auf der Bühne oder im Zuschauerraum. Nun holen wir sie alle auf die Bühne: Im Rahmen seines Programms zum 20jährigen Jubiläum startetde das Haus eine Lesereihe mit in Berlin lebenden Persönlichkeiten aus dem englischsprachigen Ausland, die aus dem Werk ihres Lieblingsschriftstellers.

The series opened on October 31st 2010 with two of English Theatre Berlin´s oldest friends, American entertainer GAYLE TUFTS who had started her Berlin career at ETB in 1991 when it was still called Friends of Italian Opera, and CYNTHIA BARCOMI, star baker from Seattle who runs a very successful chain of coffee shops in Berlin. They both read from various American writers.

On November 29th 2010 American writer HOLLY-JANE RAHLENS was joined on the Sofa by fellow American actor LESLIE MALTON. Holly-Jane read from the works of Nora Ephron while Leslie took on the great stories of English writer P.G. Wodehouse.

On March 7th 2011 IRISH AMBASSADOR DAN MULHALL (accompanied by harpist Brid Ni Chatháin) presented a highlight of the SOFA series by giving a guided tour through Irish literature from Jonathan Swift to Seamus Heaney - including a couple of old Irish songs!

April 3rd 2011 London TIMES Berlin correspondent ROGER BOYES and English poet JOHN HARTLEY WILLIAMS - who has been living in Berlin since the mid 1970s !! - mounted the sofa. Roger read from the works of Martin Amis while John chose segments from Malcolm Lowry´s masterpiece "Under the Volcano ".

NEW ZEALAND AMBASSADOR PETER RIDER and novelist PAULA MORRIS mounted the BERLIN SOFA on April 8th 2013, reading from various New Zealand writers.