etb English
Theatre
Berlin International Performing Arts Center

by Harold Pinter

English Theatre Berlin premiered its production of Harold Pinter´s masterpiece in May 2005 in its old space. Five months later Pinter was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature 2006 and English Theater Berlin was about to move into new quarters –

– reasons enough for us to bring back the prodcution in the new space (not quite finished, to be honest, more of a transitional solution but all the more perfect for The Caretaker).

This is about political manoeuvering, fraternal love and language as negotiating weapon or a form of cover-up – a typically nasty “pinteresque” comedy with a seemingly simple arrangement: two brothers and a mysterious stranger meet up in a room. Their tactics of survival: 1. Find the right partner; 2. Talk talk talk; 3. Emotional intelligence might be helpful but sometimes a knife comes in handy. And never underestimate family ties….

by DAVID MAMET

 a funky play for the singles generation

Two men and two women inthe dating pool, or the rise and fall of Danny and Deborah – a play about people around 30 trying to make sense of their lives.

“Language was invented to hide our feelings.” Voltaire

The first perversity is the fact that we never stop talking. Followed by the second one – that we are not really talking to each other but to ourselves. The third perversity is an obvious one – the never-ending search for the other half, the lonelines that comes with it, and that at some point we become addicted to the search. That´s why there are bars, make up and pornography. The fourth and final perversity is the strong belief that eventually we will succeed and be able to leave it all behind.

The proof that all this is true lies in the fact that things are still the same as they were when Mamet´s Sexual Perversity in Chicago first came out in 1974, a time when we thought we would be able to turn the world upside down – and we did.

a Road Play by Günther Grosser & Priscilla Be

Fred is dead but he´s not done talking. Anna is fed up with her stinky life in the East. Jens and Andreas are on the look-out for unsuspecting capitalist slobs. Edna is in the bathroom without a clue. The Royal Insults are on their way to fame without a map.

Dead Fred tells the story of a day in the lives of nine people on the `Transitstrecke´ – the transit road – through East Germany – a day they will never forget.

A grotesque comedy for those who´ve been there – and for those who´ve only heard about it. LA Crash meets Thelma without Louise in Michendorf. Fear and Loathing on the Transitstrecke – and the puzzling place afterwards.