The new production from Familie Flöz
Night is falling on «Villa Blanca» as Dr Nest boards the night train, attempting to turn his back on bitter memories and a fraught life. In a remote sanatorium, a meeting point for mad fates, he confidently reports for duty. There, driven by curiosity, a thirst for knowledge and empathy, he encounters his patients’ phenomena, which are as peculiar as they are puzzling: extinguished memories, bodies with lives of their own, demons and hallucinations. Soon, Dr. Nest finds even himself at risk of losing his grasp on his sense of control.  What is initially alienating appears quickly as a ludicrous reflection of one’s own doubts and insecurities. The fine line between normal and abnormal, between deliberate and forced, between healthy and ill, fades before his eyes. With their new play, Familie Flöz makes a return to masks. With and through these, the ensemble is able to cast its gaze onto the mysterious cartography of the brain as well as into the depths of the soul. Inspired by the paradox case studies from the wide field of neurology the play opens the doors to a fictive sanatorium and reveals to the spectator the bizarre world of its residents — including the personnel. Movement, space, words, light and sound create a story about the fragility of human life, which is as tragic as it is comedic.
A Familie Flöz production in co-production with Theaterhaus Stuttgart, Stadttheater Wolfsburg and L'Odyssée Périgueux, with support from the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Theater Duisburg. Supported by the Capital Cultural Fund and with the kind support from Fonds Transfabrik, a German-French fund for the performing arts.
A PLAY BY
Fabian Baumgarten, Anna Kistel, Björn Leese, Benjamin Reber, Hajo Schüler, Mats Süthoff, Michael Vogel
WITH
Fabian Baumgarten/Hajo Schüler, Anna Kistel, Björn Leese, Benjamin Reber, Mats Süthoff
DIRECTION, MASKS Hajo Schüler
CO-DIRECTION Michael Vogel
SET DESIGN Felix Nolze / Rotes Pferd
COSTUME Mascha Schubert
MUSIC Fabian Kalbitzer
SOUND DESIGN Dirk Schröder
VIDEO Martin Eidenberger
LIGHT DESIGN Reinhard Hubert
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT Gianni Bettucci
PRODUCTION TEAM Julia Danila, Dorén Gräfendorf
ASSISTANCE MASKS Franziska Schubert
ASSISTANCE SET Theresa Hechtbauer
In Memoriam Paco Gonzalez
PREMIERE 28 March 2018, Halle Ostkreuz Berlin