Berlin Theatertreffen: “Laios”: Lina Beckmann alone in antiquity

Sure, we know him: Oedipus. Kills his father, sleeps with his mother. Both with an announcement, but without wanting it. A myth told by the ancient Greeks. To put it bluntly: The ways of the Lord are unfathomable.

People who go to the theater know this. The fact that Zeus kidnapped Princess Europa as a bull and had several children with her is also basic knowledge in the educated middle class. Lina Beckmann, who can currently be seen in the antique cycle “Anthropolis” at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, asks about it at the beginning of “Laius”, the second part of the series. Things were quite colorful with the gods and goddesses in ancient Greece, which was still very young back then. Or: “Sick shit,” as Beckmann calls it in the words of the author Roland Schimmelpfennig, as she unpacks the history of the hour-and-a-half-long evening, which regularly pulls the audience out of their seats and can now be seen at the Berliner Theatertreffen.

“Sick shit” also refers to the story of Laius, which is told in the play of the same name. Laios is more of a supporting character for whom Schimmelpfennig created a complex biography based on ancient stories, which the director (and Hamburg artistic director) Karin Beier set up as a solo for Lina Beckmann.

The actress, who also plays in “Prologue/Dionysus”, the first part of Anthropolis, uses the bloody, complicated prelude with multiple questions as a ramp for – it has to be said – a furious ride through the evening in which she fully performs her art plays out, starting from a relaxed, conversational tone in which she talks, comments, and goes through possible variants again and again, because the sources are rather sparse.

Then again she slips into scenes, giving the individual characters contour and depth. She creates magnificent miniatures such as those of the seeress whom Laius and Jocasta meet in a kebab shop. Coughing hard and rolling a cigarette, the seer Pythia wrestles with the gloomy prognosis. How Laius is made king by the citizens of Thebes in order to finally let order and reason reign, she performs as a subtle masque; as a sphinx, she looks into the future in a blue sequined dress. Stunning.

A handful of props, a video episode (Voxi Bärenklau), digital images flickering across the back wall of the stage smeared with something dark (Johannes Schütz) and a subtle soundtrack by Jörg Gollasch – that’s all Lina Beckmann has to offer, but she almost fills this big one empty space completely. The fact that no closed narrative emerges is a substantial part of the charm of Schimmelpfennig’s text.

Was Chrysippus, Laios’ young lover, perhaps not already 17 or 18 years old, but rather eight or nine? Was it not great love that made him follow Laius, but rather violence? Is the bird in the morning sky, which may actually have been an evening sky, a bird? Or rather a flying cat – or a singing woman with wings?

Not only history is made. It is the interpretation that is enforced that ultimately makes it what it is. And this “Laius” shows this again and again and refuses to claim omniscience. At the same time, the world of myths is linked to the present: the kebab shop, the train passing Laius’ circle of friends, presented in the video as a group of hippies, which may have swallowed crucial words from the blind seer Tiresias. Of course, there were no cigarettes back then.

As in the classic series formats, not only of our time, “Laios” ends with a cliffhanger. Three more parts will follow, which you can binge in Hamburg from May 24th to 26th, as they say today. Of course, it’s long since sold out, but the Schauspielhaus is working on new dates.

I’m reluctant to bet, but “Laios” has excellent prospects of being the play of this theater meeting.

Performances as part of the Berlin Theatertreffen: May 14th and 15th

www.berlinerfestspiele.de/theatertreffen

#ndstays – Get active and order a promotional package

Regardless of whether it is pubs, cafés, festivals or other meeting places – we want to become more visible and reach everyone who values ​​independent journalism with an attitude. We have put together a campaign package with stickers, flyers, posters and buttons that you can use to get active and support your newspaper.
To the promotional package