David Bennent, Hermann Kretzschmar, Ueli Wiget

Musikfest Berlin

“I no longer travel. Why should travel interest me?” says the clear, brittle voice of David Bennent, and we are involuntarily touched to the heart. Sounds of prepared piano, a voice and live electronics, the bodies of the actor and two pianists. “Liberté d’action”, freedom of action, is strictly limited on stage – as in life.
Central to this new piece by the theatre-maker and composer Heiner Goebbels is the work of a non-conformist loner and outsider: Henri Michaux (1899 – 1984). Both outstanding painter and a highly modern and eloquent poet, his incantatory and explosive texts are a kind of exorcism of himself and the world.
Michaux’s fundamental mistrust of language is represented in this concert by the voice of David Bennent, which operates with multifaceted virtuosity in both French original and German translation. But its position is continually contested by the musical actions of the pianos.

• Heiner Goebbels: »Liberté d’action« Szenisches Konzert, mit Texten von Henri Michaux (1899 – 1984) (2021)

David Bennent, Performer
Hermann Kretzschmar, Klavier
Ueli Wiget, Klavier
Heiner Goebbels, Musik, Regie, Bühne
Paul Jeukendrup, Klangregie
Heiner Goebbels, Licht
Marc Thein, Licht
Florence von Gerkan, Kostüme
Diego Ramos Rodriguez, Musikalische Assistenz
Diego Ramos Rodriguez, Transkription
Lisa Schettel, Assistenz
Sóley Sigurjónsdóttir, Hospitanz

Mit der Handlungsfreiheit auf der Bühne wie im Leben beschäftigt sich das neue Werk Goebbels. Basierend auf Texten des Malers und Dichters Michaux ist ein szenisches Konzert, ein Wettstreit zwischen einem Performer und zwei Pianisten entstanden.