ESCAPE TO CAPRI
THE NORMAN DOUGLAS STORY
A play about desire, truth and the freedom of the individual
Solo-performance with video and audio installations,
based on the autobiographical texts of Norman Douglas
Performance in German language with English supertitles
Idea, Adaptation and Performer - PAUL SONDEREGGER
Director - KLAUS KOWATSCH
Scenery and costumes - ROY SPAHN, NELE AHRENS
Video - JÜRGEN SALZMANN
Music - MATTHIEU BURNER
Production - SPRECHTHEATER BERLIN
Sponsored by the State of Vorarlberg and supported by the Norman Douglas Research Centre of the Vorarlberg State Library in Bregenz. Photography by Frank Heckel.
On a quest to find himself, he radically broke with the conventions of family, religion and sexual morality. Norman Douglas (1868 - 1952), the descendent of Scottish-Austrian and German industrial nobility, was a prominent author and an astute thinker, a passionate traveller and bon vivant. He was a glitzy personality, with a reputation to lose. As well as having countless affairs with women, he was drawn to young men and even younger boys: a breach of taboo, then as now. And yet - it is in sexuality that truth is revealed. What, after all, is "more real" than sex?
Douglas flees to Capri. But here too, freedom has its limits. Through a series of revelations, scandals, law-suits and press campaigns, the "truth" is brought to light. Like Friedrich Alfred Krupp and Oscar Wilde, Douglas is driven into hardship. He must decide between public conformity and private anarchy, is forced to balance on the narrow ridge between "fame" and "notoriety".
FLUCHTPUNKT CAPRI brings the life and work of Norman Douglas to the stage for the first time. His was a precarious life torn between constraint and desire. Douglas' autobiography is a plea for the freedom of the individual. Or, as Graham Greene wrote: "Douglas lived a life consistently open, tolerant, unashamed. And yet even his enormous tolerance had certain limits. He loved life too well to have much patience with puritans or fanatics."
ENGAGEMENT
ESCAPE TO CAPRI - THE NORMAN DOUGLAS STORY is a mobile theatre production in German language with supertitles in English. We perform at festivals, in literature houses, libraries, theatres, salons, schools and at private events. We just need a room which can be blacked out. The piece runs at 1 hour 15 minutes without an interval, we can provide a detailed programme and set up a book table. Post-performance we are very happy to conduct a talk and question and answer session with the audience. We'll gladly give you a quote - our price includes a fee for the performer and two technicians, the transport of all equipment, travel costs from Berlin and if necessary overnight accommodation.
CONTACT
Please send an email to kontakt@sprechtheater-berlin.de
COMPANY
Paul Sonderegger - actor, based in Berlin, born 1968 in Vorarlberg, Austria. Trained at the Viennese Volkstheater. Theatre includes roles at the Landestheater Mecklenburg Neustrelitz, GRIPS Theater Berlin and the Komische Oper in Berlin. Voice artist for the Kulturradio station (RBB), for radio plays, audio books, feature documentaries and audio guides. Paul gives recitations and teaches voice work. He was Adrien Brody's dialogue coach in Roman Polanski's "The Pianist".
www.paul-sonderegger.de
Klaus Kowatsch - director, based in Berlin, born 1953. Theatre work includes projects in France, Southern Germany and Berlin. Film and television roles in German and international productions. Voice-over artist and director of audio books, audio guides, children's radio plays and interactive multimedia products. Klaus also gives recitations.
Roy Spahn - set and costume designer, based in Berlin, born 1966 in Frankfurt am Main. Studied art in Frankfurt and received "Encouragement of the Arts" prize. Since 1991 Roy has been a set designer working at the Schauspielhaus Hamburg, and at the state theatres of Kassel, Braunschweig, Lucerne, Strasbourg, Dessau and Bremen. He has also been the Head of Set Design at the Göttingen and Neustrelitz theatres and has worked at the opera houses of Lisbon and Leipzig.
Nele Ahrens - set and costume designer, based in Munich and Berlin, born 1982 in Kiel, trained as a theatre director in Ulm. Nele has worked in the wardrobe and set design departments at the Kammerspielen in Munich, the Theatre of Magdeburg, and the Open Air Theatre Rosslau. She has been scenery and costume designer for numerous spaces in Berlin (Villa Elisabeth, Arena Treptow, Theaterdiscounter, HAU2 and HAU3), at the I-Camp Neues Theater in Munich and at the Moks Theater Bremen.
Jürgen Salzmann - video artist, based in Berlin, born 1964. Jürgen has many years experience as an actor, director and performer. He has featured at festivals in Israel, Greece, Berlin, Halle/Saale, Toulouse and Vienna. He gives workshops and lectures at several universities and has created video installations for the Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, the State Theatre of Braunschweig and at the Teatro San Carlos Opera House in Lisbon.
Matthieu Burner - musician, composer, dancer and choreographer, based in Berlin, born 1977 in Grenoble, France. Matthieu studied cello, and trained as a dancer at the Centre National de Danse Contemporaine d'Angers. He has worked as a dancer in Switzerland, France and Berlin (Compagnie Felix Ruckert), as well as for Eun Me Ahn Cie, Tino Sehgal and Laurent Chetouane. Matthieu is a choreographer, performer and sound creator for the Company Amaraoui Burner Project.
www.amaraouiburnerproject.com