GARAGE D‘OR
A play by FAMILIE FLÖZ
Premiere 28.05.2010, Theater Duisburg
By Paco Gonzalez, Björn Leese, Benjamin Reber, Hajo Schüler and Michael Vogel
Revival 17.05.2012, Theaterhaus Stuttgart
By Anna Kistel, Björn Leese, Benjamin Reber, Hajo Schüler, Kenneth Spiteri and Michael Vogel
A FAMILIE FLÖZ and Theater Duisburg Production, Co-produced by La Strada Graz
Supported by Festival Anjou, Centro Culturale S. Chiara Trento, Theaterhaus Stuttgart and
Stadsschouwburg Utrecht
“As long as our brain is a mystery, the universe, the reflection of the
structure of the brain will also be a mystery.” (Santiago Ramón y Cajal)
About the play
Three families, three men, one dream.
In the tightness of their home kitchen, storm clouds start to gather over the heads of Bruno,
Lothar and Hermann, intensifying the wish to flee from everything worldly: their demanding wives, their disobedient children, their apparently failed existences. Driven by impossible desires,
they thrust open a door which they are unable to close again from then on. Their quest leads
them through the unimaginable expanse of space, and into the darkest depths of their own
selves.
GARAGE D‘OR portrays the helplessness of fathers, the power of circumstances and the urge to
be free.
In this new production, FAMILIE FLÖZ makes further advances into the wide world that lies
beyond words, and into exploring an international theatrical language. The masks turn into
seismographs of the human soul, moving the audience to tears of laughter in one moment and
making time seemingly stand still in the next.
1
GARAGE D‘OR
About the production
“One small step for mankind – a giant leap for me”
Tormenting uncertainty. Fascination with the new. Unexpected opposition.
Departing into the unknown is always coupled with dramatic moments. Usually something goes
horribly wrong or does not go according to plan: “Murphy’s Law.” Although as old as humanity
itself, this insight can be traced back to Edward Aloysius Murphy, a pilot in the United States
Air Force and officer of R+D at the Wright Air Development Center in Ohio. In 1946 he and Major
John Paul Stapp of the Edwards Air Base, located in California’s Mojave Desert, began working
on Project MX981. Together they worked on developing a security system that was supposed
to improve pilots’ chances of survival in the event of a crash. In an informal paper Murphy
wrote, “Stapp’s goal was to exceed more than 1,000 kilometers per hour, then stop within 1.3
seconds and survive.” During the decisive experiment Stapp’s acceleration speedometer failed.
It turned out that a mechanic had connected it incorrectly. “Anything that can go wrong will go
wrong.” This is the familiar version of Murphy’s Law. Edward Murphy, however, formulated it somewhat differently: “If there‘s more than one way to do something, and one way will result in
disaster, then someone will do it that way.” Man as an element of uncertainty, not omnipotent,
but rather a permanent danger, provoking catastrophe.
When FAMILIE FLÖZ begins to work on a new play, it always engages on a journey into the
unknown. Although there is a wealth of ideas when rehearsals begin, these do not yet
constitute a play. We do not begin with Shakespeare or Chekhov, but with a few images, ideas,
memories and desires and we sit with these in darkness, just like the three main characters in
GARAGE D‘OR. Although we sit there together and not alone, this does not always make things
easier. Following Goethe‘s motto “Man wanders astray as long as he strives”, we throw ourselves willingly into the dark forest full of trees, into a city full of castles in the air and get tangled up in one another. We agree to get lost together.
But why?
Why don’t we stay home, in our safe haven? Apparently we heed to a strange power that drives
us to abandon the things we know, to look beyond them and to do things we have not yet
done – to discover something. A power that makes us believe that everything can be improved.
So let’s get to it!
In his story, The End of the Beginning, Ray Bradbury wrote: “Millions of years we fought gravity.
When we were amoebas and fish we struggled to get out of the sea without gravity crushing
us. Once safe on the shore we fought to stand upright without gravity breaking our new
inven- tion, the spine, tried to walk without stumbling, run without falling. A billion years
gravity kept us home, mocked us with wind and clouds, cabbage moths and locusts... Even if
we fail with the first, we‘ll send a second and a third ship and move on out to all the planets
and later, all the stars. We‘ll just keep going until the big words like ‘immortal’ and ‘forever’
take on meaning.”
Because, from time to time, things are clear, bright. .We laugh about a scene or are collectively
moved by a character because its aspirations and defeats suddenly connect to something that
exists in us. A figure touches a memory, a fear, a hope that we rediscover in ourselves at that
instant. Suddenly, in such moments, all that is tiring and difficult disappears and something
2
GARAGE D‘OR
happens that we are perhaps looking for in theater: Someone is moved and less alone.
When we started rehearsals for GARAGE D‘OR we dreamed afar, to distant planets, and we discovered our main characters Hermann, Lothar and Bruno who we wanted to send out into the
universe together. While looking for the how and why we got to know our protagonists better
and the aforementioned unexpected circumstances did not fail to materialize. When we say that
is not we, but rather our figures who wrote the play, this may not be entirely truthful, yet much
truth lies in the assertion. Much of what we imagine, our figures fail to implement; on the other
hand, they do many things that we never could have dreamed they would.
Did we create the play we envisioned? Did we get to where we wanted to go? Did we walk on
the moon?
We‘ll just keep going.
Berlin, 2nd May 2010
Familie Flöz – history
The FAMILIE FLÖZ was established in 1994. Born from an idea of Hajo Schüler and Markus
Michalowski, a small group of acting and mime students at the Folkwang-Hochschule Essen
began experimenting with masks they had created. The play’s theme: life on a construction
site. The director Michael Vogel, also a Folkwang-graduate, happened upon the group. In 1994
the group performed the premier of the first version of “Über Tage” in the Folkwang-Hochschule
auditorium. Hajo Schüler and Michael Vogel, now in cooperation with Thomas Rascher and
Stefan Ferencz, continued to work on the play. In the roundabout manner of a shortened
version and one that could be performed on city streets, “Flöz & Söhne” managed to gain the
attention of the public and professionals alike at the Köln-Comedy-Festival and Freiburger
Kulturbörse. They also acquired sponsors, such as the Westfälische Industriemuseum, which
made the decommissioned coal mine Hannover in Bochum available to the group as a rehearsal and performance space. In 1996, the original version of “Familie Flöz kommt Über Tage”
was performed there. The play was received with great enthusiasm by the press and public and
became the group’s namesake years later. Following many performances in France,
Holland, Denmark and Slovakia, as well as several awards, including one at the Festival der
Freien Theater in Nordrhein-Westfalen, the group performed their second play, “Ristorante
Immortale”, with a new ensemble in the Maschinenhaus Essen in 1998. This piece relinquishes
the use of language and lives only from visual performance, masks, sounds and music. “Ristorante Immortale” went on tour in Spain, giving three weeks of guest performances in Madrid as
part of the Festival de Otoño; in 1999 it could be seen in Prater and Arena for the first time in
Berlin. The play has been performed in 27 countries to date and has made the FAMILIE FLÖZ
renowned for its poetic and comic ensemble.
For their first performance at the Edinburgh Festival in 2001, the group called itself “Flöz
Production”, later changing this to its present name, FAMILIE FLÖZ. In 2000 and 2001 the group
created a new work, “two% – happy hour” and “two% – homo oeconomicus”. Following
residences in Essen and the Ruhr area, Berlin has been FLÖZ’s home base since 2001.
3
GARAGE D‘OR
With their play “Teatro Delusio”, which had its premier in the Arena Berlin, the group produced
a second international success: this debut production was followed by performances in South
America, Asia and Europe and was recognized with several awards.
In fall 2006 FLÖZ opened the Studio in the restored Admiralspalast, on the Friedrichstrasse in
Berlin. Their production, “Infinita”, had its premiere in 2006 in the Akademie der Künste Berlin,
followed by fifty performances in the Admiralspalast. “Hotel Paradiso” celebrated its premier
in 2006 in seven different locations. In summer 2008 FLÖZ terminated its cooperation with the
Admiralspalast and began collaborating and producing plays on a regular basis with the
Theaterhaus Stuttgart and the Theater Duisburg.
Familie Flöz – approach
FAMILIE FLÖZ makes theater using means that lie “before language”. All conflicts first manifest
themselves physically and this physical conflict is the origin of all dramatic situations. All the
group’s pieces are the result of collective creative efforts in which the performers are also the
authors of the figures and situations. Because the troupe is not a fixed entity, a new ensemble
congregates to develop not only a new play but new working and rehearsal methods as well.
The players’ artistic and technical foundations are characterized by their studies at the
Folkwang-Hochschule in Essen, which itself was created with the idea of combining the various
art forms in a productive manner. The typical masks created by FLÖZ are important tools for
the development of the dramatic material and figures. Like texts, the masks not only have a
form, but also a context. The process of developing a mask, playfully acting with it, and finally
creating a symbiosis between the mask and actor is decisive for the end results. In a way the
masked actor “writes” the scene with his body, in the air.
4
GARAGE D‘OR
FAMILIE FLÖZ – reviews
Wordless and yet somehow so expressive, full of yearning and yet also filled with joy; this is
splendid and immensely skillful character comedy.
The Guardian
Their masks astonish from the word go at how happiness, disappointment and confusion and
every little thing in between can be communicated with gestures (...) No words! Just applause!
Three weeks
The public squeals with enthusiasm, people stomp their feet and, when it is all over, they stand
on their chairs as if thanking the performers for the gift they have just received. Theater can be
magnificent.
Berliner Zeitung (D)
At the end of a performance one could swear that the actors had spoken, laughed and cried.
A fascinating experiment in theater that is executed with incredible body control. (...) One of the
most peculiar theatre project of our times. (...) Familie Flöz tells stories with a humor, a charm
and a furor that seems to be addictive.
Süddeutsche Zeitung (D)
A creation of great poetic power that will long be remembered. El Mundo (ES)
Members of Familie Flöz make the audience laugh and simultaneously move them to tears.
Berliner Morgenpost (D)
The German theater troupe Familie Flöz was enthusiastically received by London audiences. The
play “Hotel Paradiso” once again was performed as part of the London Mime Festival in the sold
out Queen Elizabeth Hall, receiving an applause lasting several minutes. The four performers,
who continuously switched roles, were hidden behind masks and did not utter a single word.
DPA (Deutsche Presse Agentur, D)
A magical evening, crowned with the public’s standing ovations. Nrz (D)
Fits of laughter overcame the public: life can be so cruel and yet so hilariously funny.
Stuttgarter Nachrichten am Samstag (D)
5
GARAGE D‘OR
FAMILIE FLÖZ – repertoire
HOTEL PARADISO A spring promises relief from spiritual and physical suffering and four stars shine over the
entrance. Yet heavy clouds darken the sky. The proprietor’s son dreams of falling in love
while bitterly battling his sister for stewardship of the hotel. The chamber maid steals from the
guests and the cook cuts up more than just pigs…
When the first body appears, everyone – guests and personnel – become entangled in a vortex
of ferocious events. Dark, bottomless pits, from which none can escape, open up amid deception
and dizzying heights. The demise of the hotel seems imminent; after all, bodies are bad for
business.
INFINITA
INFINITA is a piece about the first and last moments of life: the time when the great wonder
occurs: when the newborn makes his first appearance in the world, takes his first courageous
steps and experiences his first bold fall. Life itself is the main protagonist here, and ist creative
power, which enables us to fail and triumph – until our dying breath.
INFINITA is a physical mosaic of life, simply and perfectly composed, a brief glimpse in the
endlessness of birth, sex and death, and everything else that is bizarre.
TEATRO DELUSIO
TEATRO DELUSIO is theatre in the theatre.
“A fantastic ensemble excels in breathtaking fighting scenes, deadly intrigues and heartbreaking arias of world-famous plays. Night by night they steer towards unprecedented triumphs.”
That is on one side. On the other side three stage technicians work in the backstages‘
darkness. Their lives, which usually remain hidden, now recede into the light.
RISTORANTE IMMORTALE
– or: About Provisional Life
Somwhere between heaven and hell. In the middle of the universe and yet in the middle of
nowhere: RISTORANTE IMMORTALE. Everyday this microcosmos opens its doors. A place without
meaning, but with an untiring staff! An allegory in four absurd scenes… A none verbal mask
play using Pantomime, Music, Comedy, Artistic, Slappstick, Clowning und Magic to create a very
fine piece of art. “The art of saying everything without needing to utter a single word”, as one
press review remarked.
6
GARAGE D‘OR
A FAMILIE FLÖZ and Theater Duisburg Production
Co-produced by La Strada Graz
Supported by Festival Anjou, Centro Culturale S. Chiara Trento, Theaterhaus Stuttgart and
Stadsschouwburg Utrecht
A play by Anna Kistel, Björn Leese, Benjamin Reber, Hajo Schüler,
Kenneth Spiteri, Michael Vogel
with Anna Kistel, Björn Leese, Benjamin Reber, Hajo Schüler,
Kenneth Spiteri
Direction
Michael Vogel
Masks
Hajo Schüler
Set Design
Michael Ottopal, Andrey von Schlippe
Costumes
Julia Moritz
Sound Design Dirk Schröder
Light Design Reinhard Hubert
Video Art Work
Silke Meyer
Video, Animation
Andreas Dihm
Assistant to the Director Sandy Schwermer
Production Manager Gianni Bettucci
Production Assistant Henrike Beran
FAMILIE FLÖZ
Lehderstr. 39/41
D – 13086 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0) 30 91 14 75 85
Fax: +49 (0) 30 92 37 13 23
www.floez.net
Company Manager
Gianni Bettucci
Mobile: +49 (0) 176 29 05 66 60
E-mail: [email protected]
Artistic Directors
Hajo Schüler, e-mail: [email protected]
Michael Vogel, e-mail: [email protected]
Technical Manager
Reinhard Hubert
Mobile: +49 (0) 172 28 08 662
E-mail: [email protected]
7