La Reprise - or in English, The Repetition - was one of the weirdest and yet somehow most compelling plays I think I have ever watched. Presented by Création Studio Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles in association with The International Institute Of Political Murder, this formed part of The Schaubühne in Berlin's programme of past performances at their theatre available online during the coronavirus crisis.
Part Deconstruction Theatre, part Documentary Theatre, and part Reconstruction, this 'play' told the tale of the murder of a young gay Arab man in Liege (Belgium) in April 2012. The story is a true one, and so the reconstruction needed to have an air of authenticity and to tell the tale sympathetically. The company of actors used were all Belgian themselves and they spoke the text in both Flemish and French, (with both German and English subtitles if required).
The production lasted about 105 minutes through without interval and was in three parts. The first part (in Flemish) was a lecture, deconstructing theatre, acting, actors, directors, and even how to present a play.. this play.. the challenges of autheticity against 'acting'. Following on from this the next 20 minutes of the play consisted of an audition. A panel of three auditioned three others for roles in the docu-drama about the poor victim in Liege. Much more an interrogation or at best a Q+A session than any audition I have ever been to in my life, but still....!
Finally, the third part of the play was the actual docu-drama reconstruction of the events. Part 'Crimewatch', part 'rehearsal', the events unfolded, and the facts were told, impassionately. Cleverly, much of what was discussed at the 'audition' was used in this section, and, I won't spoil the ending of the play.. but it was extremely craftily and neatly tied up into a bow, bringing in all the elements so far used.. deconstruction, documentary and call-backs. Clever.
This was a multimedia presentation and much, if not all of the play was also filmed and shown on a screen above the stage. This conveniently afforded two different perspectives of the same moment, which worked excellently in the scenes where a TV / film / documentary feel was necessary to highlight a certain person, or even a certain gesture or expression.
The scrirpt was punctuated with humour and bonhomie and there was even a dog on stage for good measure. The production used a mix of professional and amateur actors, and this worked in the production's favour.. the style of the play was very basic without any pretentions.
Directed by Milo Rau (dramaturgy and research by Eva-Maria Bertschy), this was a slow-burner of a production, and you needed to sit, watch, and not concentrate too hard.. but just let it happen, and the more you did just that, the more enjoyable the presentation was. I didn't think I was going to enjoy it after watching the introduction, but I stuck with it, and found myself not just understanding the methodology and style of the production, but aslo enjoying it too.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 2/5/20
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