Der Extremist

Where: back then, manning the barricades in Kiev’s Maidan; today, in the “Paradise” Grand-Hotel. The hotel is to be found wherever mountains rise and surroundings resemble paradise. Who: the pianist with a past, the dictator’s bodyguard and two hotel musicians. Countless percussion, string and keyboard instruments, four glass harps.

It’s a simple question: who shoots a person playing the piano? The Ukrainian government certainly had qualms when, in the winter of 2013, a disguised pianist unexpectedly set up an old piano on the Maidan and began playing. Others followed suit and music reluctantly played into the hands of the revolution, quite literally.

The Ukrainian author Juri Andruchowytsch expanded on this historical footnote from his homeland. Transferring it to our own doorstep he embellishes the story with an absurd punch line, a genuine coup-de-théâtre. Although his exiled piano-extremist is in “Paradise”, how can one be happy when acutely aware of the misfortune of others? In the hands of director Manfred Ferrari this musical curiosity works; it asks difficult questions with a lightness of touch.

The Extremist is a commissioned work. It is deftly constructed, ideally cast and delightfully accompanied by music to its denouement. The play culminates in the confrontation of the two main characters. The two antagonists demonstrate – Jürg Kienberger by using sound and Samuel Streiff by using his power as a weapon – that politics doesn’t have the final word – music does.

Daniele Muscionico

• distrib

  With
  Jürg Kienberger, Vera Kappeler, Samuel Streiff, Peter Conradin Zumthor

  Translation
  Sabine Stöhr
  

  Stage design
  Sebastian Werlen

  Costumes
  Ursina Schmid

  Sound technic
  Martin Hofstetter

  Assistant and promotion
  Irene Fleischlin

  Production
  ressort k - Theater Chur

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