VALENTINIADE. SPORTING SINGSPIEL WITH ALL MEANS
by and based on Karl Valentin and with texts by Michel Decar
Premiere December 16, 2022
Residenztheater
1 hour 45 minutes
No intermission
Age recommendation: from 14 years
"Isn't theater also school, question mark!"
Director Claudia Bauer, who has been invited to the Theatertreffen four times and is known for her fast-paced, crazy productions with a playful ensemble of actors, dedicates her new work to a Munich original, the brilliant comedian Karl Valentin. In her usual opulent stage language, she develops a homage to the Bavarian linguistic anarchist, for whom the critic Alfred Kerr invented the term "Wortzerklauberer" (word-smith). To this day, Valentin's tragicomic art and "dialectical linguistic playfulness" do not fit into any conventional pigeonhole. It is precisely this uniqueness that has significantly influenced subsequent generations of artists: from Bertolt Brecht and Samuel Beckett to Herbert Achternbusch, Gerhard Polt and Christoph Schlingensief, who described him as "one of the greatest". The trained carpenter started out as a "club humorist" and folk singer. He only made his breakthrough on stage when he met his congenial partner Liesl Karlstadt in 1911 and the two began performing together. The list of their legendary sketches and films is almost endless: "Orchesterprobe", "Im Schallplattenladen", "Der Theaterbesuch", "Der Firmling" or "Buchbinder Wanninger".
Karl Valentin once characterized himself perhaps most beautifully and aptly with his very own humour:
"Karl Valentin, Munich comedian, son of a married couple. Karl Valentin learned to be abnormal at the age of twelve for health reasons and, after careful consideration, showed a talent for reading newspapers. Karl Valentin's idiosyncrasies are peculiar. It is out of place to write anything about Karl Valentin's physical characteristics. His weight is unimportant, his height - elongated; his gait - agile; his character - characteristic; his posture - ridiculous."
Born in Augsburg in 1987, he studied German language and literature and history at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and then scenic writing at the Berlin University of the Arts. He lives as an author and director in Berlin. He has regularly produced radio plays for Deutschlandfunk Kultur since 2014. In 2020, his short film "Europa zum Beispiel" was in competition at the Max Ophüls Preis film festival. His debut novel "Tausend deutsche Diskotheken" was published in 2018 and his second novel "Die Kobra von Kreuzberg" in 2021. He has received numerous awards, including the 2012 Stückemarkt Prize for New Drama at the Berlin Theatertreffen for "Jonas Jagow" (premiere 2013, Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin). Other productions include the plays "Schere Faust Papier" (premiere 2016, Thalia Theater Hamburg), "Die Reise nach Kallisto" (premiere 2020, Schauspiel Frankfurt) and "Tausend deutsche Diskotheken" (premiere 2021, Staatstheater Kassel). His play "Philipp Lahm" by Robert Gerloff premiered at the Residenztheater in 2017 and in 2021 David Moser staged the monologue "Rex Osterwald" for the "Resi zoomt" format.
Production Claudia Bauer
Stage Andreas Auerbach
Costumes Patricia Talacko
Composition and musical direction Michael Gumpinger
Video Jonas Alsleben
Lighting Gerrit Jurda, Markus Schadel
Dramaturgy Constanze Kargl
This content has been machine translated.Price information:
Student ticket for 10€