a berlin blog
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a berlin blog |
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Thursday, February 17, 2005 The Pleasures of East Berlin 2Last night I walked about twenty yards down the street from my apartment to see a new show by Peter Brook, Tierno Bokar, about an African Sufi Muslim who lived and taught in Mali around the start of the twentieth century. The set was a simple platform with wicker mats, a few wooden bowls, and a tree. The lights were hot and African. The actors spoke French, with German supertitles, which may have improved my French but distracted from watching the actors, who had a quiet, simple, unflamboyant style. Brook is known for his quiet ways, and in fact he came out personally to ask us to shut off our cell phones, treading the stage with so little fanfare that nobody clapped. (He likes it that way.) The production itself -- aside from the script -- was so close to perfect, and so effortless, that you wonder why everyone can't act that way. But at the end there was no applause. The stage emptied, the musicians put down their instruments, but there was no big flourish or curtain to say "show's over now -- clap," so nobody did. At first. After a minute the audience gave a big ovation, but in the discussion afterwards it was clear that some Berliners had found the play "didactic," and others had just liked sitting there for a few seconds without having to make a lot of noise.Tierno wasn't didactic. That word rolls out whenever the subject turns to religion. And the post-show discussion was like post-show discussions everywhere -- people stood up just to hear themselves talk. Brook ended it with impeccable manners, by saying: "Now I think we should come around to the point that I think we've all agreed upon, and that is the value of silence." posted by Michael Scott Moore | 12:04 PM | |
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