Erika Rabau’s Theatertreffen
From 1984 to 2007
2 to 18 May 2008
1 hour prior to each performance at Haus der Berliner Festspiele
The famous Berlin diseuse and actress Blandine Ebinger called her the “Puck of Berlin”: Erika Rabau. She has been photographing the stars and starlets at the Theatertreffen and the Berlinale for over 30 years. Her energy and charm are based on her tireless curiosity. Even before you see her – and she is everywhere – you hear her. She knows everyone, and everyone knows her.
Her photos of the 1963-1985 film festival have just been on show at the Museum of Communication. Now we are showing her view of a quarter of a century of Theatertreffen: she has captured many great moments of German-language theatre with her camera. The film “Erika Rabau – Der Puck von Berlin” by Samson Vicent, whom we would like to thank for his support, will also be shown.
Erka Rabau
This year marks the fifth time that the Stückemarkt’s playwriting workshop has taken place and the fifth time that author and dramaturg John von Düffel has led it. Traditionally, it takes place behind the scenes, and what really happens at the workshop is only known to those who have taken part: It is an “exchange of experiences” where you are “stripped down to your shirt and grilled”, reports one author. “Surprisingly open, but never unsparing” is how the texts are discussed, said another. One author even likened it to a drug: “I was given a good supply of the stuff, learnt a lot about how to deal with the drug from more experienced junkies and dealers and gained an experience of intoxication.” The playwrights’ workshop is a secret talent factory, a protected space for concentrated work and exchange away from the hustle and bustle of the Theatertreffen. The submitted texts are discussed, new mini-dramas are written and finally presented to the public as part of the traditional final presentation of the playwrights’ workshop at the end of the theatre market.
Every year, the five workshop participants compare themselves with the five authors whose texts are presented in staged readings at the Stückemarkt and realise that their texts are not “worse” at all. No, they are not! It is simply a different kind of author promotion that the playwrights' workshop provides. And the success of the participants in recent years speaks for itself: most of the authors found a publisher, numerous plays were premiered and performed and invited to other renowned author promotion programmes. Dirk Laucke and Philipp Löhle, for example, were invited to Mühlheim. Löhle, the first winner of the tt Stückemarkt commission in 2007, wrote a play for the Schauspielhaus Wien, which was successfully premiered in March 2008 and can now be seen at the Theatertreffen in Berlin. This year, for the first time, a former workshop author – Nuran David Calis – is jointly responsible for selecting this year’s participants as a Stückemarkt juror. The 2008 Stückemarkt jury has once again selected a strong cohort for this year’s playwriting workshop with John von Düffel: Anne Habermehl, Andreas Liebmann, Laura Naumann, Nicole Kanter and Sabine Wen-Ching Wang. I wish you lots of fun and valuable inspiration both in front of and behind the scenes of the Theatertreffen. Good luck!
Yvonne Büdenhölzer Director of the Stückemarkt