Having been banned from exercising his professional activities in his home country, Bulgarian theatre director and philosopher Ivan Stanev has long been writing in German and works as a stage director at several Berlin theatres. This year Ivan Stanev completed his first 35 mm film as a Bulgarian-German-French co-production.
“Murder in the Castle Theatre” is now a stage tragedy taking place in a theatre box. In Stanev’s staging, the theatre as a public place becomes a political space, an inextricable web of associations and cross-fading.
“A dreadful, bloody, politically motivated deed took place during yesterday’s performance of “Peer Gynt” at the Burgtheater. Nothing unusual was noticed during the performance, until revolver shots rung out during the shipwreck scene. Immediately thereafter, painful cries were heard from the third circle box, as well as shouting in a language incomprehensible to most of the spectators. Panic almost broke out in the theatre. Some level-headed persons calmed the spectators; the shipwreck scene was interrupted, the curtain fell and the lights came on in the auditorium. Nonetheless the excitement did not subside entirely – women screamed and fled out, with numerous men following. After some time, the spectators having remained inside the theatre regained their composure and the performance could resume and be played out to the end.” Wiener Extrablatt, No. 127, Vienna, Saturday, 9 May 1925
In his production of “Murder at the Castle Theatre” Ivan Stanev stages this historic Vienna murder and other theatre tragedies (that did not take place on the stage).
Direction, staging and music: Ivan Stanev.
Premiere on 23 April 2009 at , Volksbühne im PRATER, Kastanienallee 7-9, Berlin - Prenzlauer Berg.
With: Luise Berndt (Ekaterina Panica, Sekretär), Andreas Frakowiak (Theaterkritiker, Gerichtsmediziner, Psychiater, Tschetnik), Fabian Gerhardt (Peer Gynt, Polizeirat, Dr. Richard Pressburger, Tschetnik), Anna Charim (Alma Mahler), Martin Olbertz (Kapitän, der fremde Passagier, Staatsanwalt, Tschetnik), Bonn Park (Eisbär, Tschetnik), stefanpaul (Paul Wittgenstein) and Jeanette Spassova (Melpomena Karničeva)
Director: Ivan Stanev
Stage and Costumes Supplier: Anne Klee, Christina Schmitt, Franziska Schuster, Nora Willy
Video: Jens Crull, Konstantin Hapke
Stage and Costumes Supplier: Hannes Heiner
Light Design: Ralf Scholz
Dramaturgy: Maurici Farré, Anja Quickert
