ANTICIPATED:
SEBASTIAN HARTMANN’S THEATRE AESTHETICS
WITH THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA, DIRECTOR SEBASTIAN HARTMANN FINALLY COMES TO ZURICH. HIS ART CHALLENGES, FASCINATES AND DEFIES EASY DESCRIPTION. THE AUDIENCE IS DRAWN INTO NEW WORLDS OF PERCEPTION – AND INTO AN EVENING THAT RESONATES. FROM 3 MAY AT THE SCHIFFBAU-HALLE.
Take a seat, be entertained, be enchanted, be impressed, applaud, go home – not so with Sebastian Hartmann! His productions are not 90-minute plays in the classical sense. They are excesses, avalanches of thought brought to life, which draw the audience into a theatrical experience that oscillates between chaos and clarity, ecstasy and silence, excessive demands and revelation – and in Zurich, leading right into the heart of Nietzschean thought. Known for his visually stunning and overwhelming productions, the director, who has been invited to the Berliner Theatertreffen several times, takes classical material, great novels or philosophical texts and transforms them into sensual experiences. For Zurich, Sebastian Hartmann is now tackling THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA, probably Friedrich Nietzsche’s most famous work. It tells the story of Zarathustra, an enlightened being who, after years of solitude on a mountain, descends to share his wisdom with humanity. He proclaims the death of God and the ideal of the “Übermensch”, seeks to inspire a dangerous life and a reassessment of all values – and encounters the limits of language and communication. On his journey, Zarathustra meets both supporters and opponents, experiences doubt and loneliness...
In Sebastian Hartmann’s production, however, this plot is not presented one-to-one. The performers do not embody characters or roles. Instead, voices, projections and fragments of text unfold, fusing language, music, video and physicality into an intoxicating synthesis of the arts. Those who watch are challenged to question their own viewing habits, and discover new levels of perception. This theatre does not aim to provide answers, but to set the thinking and feeling of the audience in motion.
Sebastian Hartmann’s working method may seem radical, but it is always strongly characterised by a collective approach. He relies on improvisation, the creative input of his ensemble of performers and the creativity of the whole team. Artists from the fields of video art, costume design, sound and lighting design create atmospheric spaces. Thick wafts of mist drift through the bare industrial hall of the Schiffbau; where they dissipate, the eye falls on huge screens, sometimes showing live video projections, sometimes the performers creating abstract imagery with giant brushes and buckets of acrylic paint live in front of the audience. Hartmann’s productions often resemble surreal dreamscapes in which space and time become blurred.
Sebastian Hartman’s first production in Zurich will be a spectacle in which the boundaries between audience and performers dissolve; in the end, everyone is united in dance, in an intoxicating collective techno rave. This could take anywhere from 90 minutes to five hours, but don’t worry: the Schiffbau-bar will be open, you can always stretch your legs, and no prior knowledge of Nietzsche is required. Plunged into a maelstrom of thoughts and emotions, you may end up with the sense that you haven’t understood every detail, but you will have been shaken up. And you will have the urge to breathe in the night, and continue your reflections. For, as Nietzsche said: ‘For all joy wants eternity.’
