Fremde Seelen
Eva-Maria Bertschy (Palermo)
German premiere | Co-production of euro-scene Leipzig | French and German with German surtitles | Ages 14 and up
FREMDE SEELEN is an investigation. And just like any investigation, it is driven by the wish to shine light onto certain things that have taken place in an inexplicable way: the suicide of a pastor with Vietnamese origins in a small village in the Swiss alpine foothills at the beginning of the 2000s – only three years after taking on the post. It is Eva-Maria Bertschy’s mother’s village. This story is the point of departure for a monumental documentary work that the director expands onto the stage in various scenes and with innumerable voices. Her partner, the musician Kojack Kossakamvwe, and the well-known Tatort actress Carol Schuler meet Sister Nang, the mother, a pastor, the parish council, a choir and discuss, bear witness to and sing about a story in which those suffer violence who are considered foreigners.
The Swiss dramaturge and director Eva-Maria Bertschy researches between local and global history with a transnational team. In the field of tension between family history, questions of belief, migration, racism and cultural identity, they interweave a multi-level narrative on stage that speculates about the life of the priest and simultaneously explores their own points of contact and experience with being and feeling foreign.
Eva-Maria Bertschy and Kojack Kossakamvwe were already participants at euro-scene Leipzig in our coproduction THE GHOSTS ARE RETURNING (Group50:50) in 2022. This successful piece was nominated in the "genre jumper" category of the DER FAUST theater prize in 2023 and was also invited to the Swiss Theatertreffen.
Credits
Concept + Text + Staging Eva-Maria Bertschy Performance Carol Schuler, Kojack Kossakamvwe With chorbeau – der deutsch-französische Chor Leipzig With a song sung by Lan Franière Costumes + Stage Ersan Mondtag Stage assitant + Costume assistant Lorenz Stöger Musical direction + composition Kojack Kossakamvwe Lighting design Sylvain Faye Sound design Fabien Lauton Outside eye + dramaturgical support Julia Reichert Hospitance Daria Thüringer Tour management Camille Jamet, HerProduction Translation Katia Flouest-Sell Thanks to everyone who shared this story and their experiences with us. With songs by Joseph Bovet, Kojack Kossakamvwe, Xuân Khài Huyèn, Ngoc Khánh With quotes by Paul Celan, Hannah Arendt, Birago Diop, Rainer Maria Rilke, Jean Améry, Doan Van Toai, James Baldwin Audio description Beatrix Hermens, Matthias Huber, Cathi Matthies, Jana Rath, gefördert durch die Aktion Mensch
Production Theater Neumarkt, Vorarlberger Landestheater Co-production Belluard Bollwerk International, euro-scene Leipzig Support costumes The set and costumes were made in the workshops of the Neumarkt Theater and the Vorarlberger Landestheater. Support Gwärtler Fonds, Marie Schindler Stiftung Thanks to Cultural contribution from the Canton of Fribourg Presentation with support by Südkulturfonds and Pro Helvetia
Creation Belluard Bollwerk International, Fribourg, 27 July 2024
Main Supporters
euro-scene leipzig is institutionally supported by the City of Leipzig and the Saxon State Ministry for Higher Education, Culture and Tourism. Co-financed by tax revenue on the basis of the budget approved by the Saxon State Parliament.