BAVARIA

In the organizer's words:

BAVARIA
by Guillermo Calderón

translated from English by Katrin Michael

Recommended age: 14 years and up

Chilean director and author Guillermo Calderón creates his own unique combination of humor and political explosiveness in his writing. Many of his texts tell quite comically about the prejudices, ignorance and egoism that come to light in intercultural exchange. In his new play for the Residenztheater, a group of women meet for choir practice. But they not only sing together, they also want to found a new form of community, a new "Bavaria" that fits their ideas of a good life better than the Bavarian reality. Only where? Somewhere in the country? Or better at the other end of the world, in South America? While they are already rehearsing the Spanish songs that Franka, a German-born Paraguayan, is supposed to teach them, it gradually turns out that not everything here is as harmonious as it seems, and entanglements and untruths permeate not only the group, but also the history of German settlement in Latin America.

"In this piece I want to explore the relationship between the motives of the German colonists and those of the Chilean government, which has given a lot of land and support to German settlers since the 19th century. The 'Colonia Dignidad', which became sadly famous, was only one of many. On the one hand, it was about the development of our land, the military and the education system, but it was also very much about taking the land away from the indigenous population that still lives in these areas today and still has much less influence than the descendants of the German immigrants who belong to the social elite." Guillermo Calderón

Guillermo Calderón is one of Chile's most important contemporary theater makers. His company's productions tour worldwide. The United States, where he works as a screenwriter, is another center of his life. He has an ongoing collaboration with the renowned film director Pablo Larraín.

Artistic direction

Production Guillermo Calderón
Stage and costumes Sophia Sylvester Röpcke
Composition and musical direction Stephen Delaney
Lighting Markus Schadel
Dramaturgy Katrin Michaels

Price information:

from 8€ for students