RUHE
Franz Schubert / Annelies Van Parys / Armando / Hans Sleutelaar
Anyone in search of coherence, unison, must overcome many obstacles; which is probably why he acts like an enraged animal when he finds that the harmony he has found is threatened by chaos.
RUHE is a recital of lieder brutally interrupted by people who wish to talk about their voluntary enlistment in the SS in WWII. As for the singers now, their actions at the time were based on an attempt to find harmony and, as in any ambitious choir today, anyone who cannot keep a tune must go. They ask for our understanding.
During the sixties the Dutch artists Armando and Hans Sleutelaar had a number of interviews with people who were members of the SS during WW II. When they made transcripts of the tapes they omitted the questions; the result is a number of monologues by people trying to explain what and how they thought and felt at the time and why their lives took that particular turn. These are not people who bitterly regret the choices they made, but people who are unable to rid themselves of their past.
Surrounded by chairs, carefully searched by Herman Sorgeloos, male singers from the famous choir Collegium Vocale Gent and two performers take their places before the audience enter - they will come in and find their seats among them. The performance intersperses Schubert's songs with monologues.
conceived and directed by JOSSE DE PAUW / musical director CHRISTOPH SIEBERT / set HERMAN SORGELOOS / image courtesy DAVID CLAERBOUT and GALERY MICHELINE SZWAJCER / text adaptation TOM JANSEN, JOSSE DE PAUW
performers CARLY WIJS, DIRK ROOFTHOOFT, TOM JANSEN, JOSSE DE PAUW (2 per performance) / singers COLLEGIUM VOCALE (12 SINGERS)
Produced by Muziektheater Transparant, coproduced by KunstenFESTIVALdesArts
and Zeeland Nazomerfestival, in collaboration with Festival Spielart (München)