Performance of “Blutbuch” in Vienna dissects language
Published: Saturday, Apr 27th 2024, 07:30
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Director Paul Spittler has brought Kim de l'Horizon's "Blutbuch" to the stage at the Vienna Theater. He leaves the text, which has won the German and Swiss Book Prize, among others, as such and dissects its language.
Ultimately, the stage "Blood Book" is an elaborate scenic reading of the work of the Bernese writer de l'Horizon. The central characteristics of the multifaceted text are brought to the stage.
The professional declamation clarifies some of the pitfalls of the constantly convulsive birthing of words for one's own reality. The complexity of the novel is not reduced, but its polyphony is celebrated.
Spittler has cast five people from different backgrounds for the first performance on an Austrian stage. They approach Kim de L'Horizon's cascades of language both as a group and as individuals. Gender attributions are avoided, just as in the book of the non-binary, narrating ego Kim.
Some of the five Kims come from the performance scene, some are actors and some, like Jchj V. Dussell, are writers themselves. They tell the grandmother, who is not physically present, the reflections of a former child on being a woman, a man and a human being, transgenerational heritage and finding one's way into one's own body.
Red woollen threads run through the staging as a common thread, representing both the connection and entanglement with one another. Blankets are protection and covering as well as a symbol of covering up conflicts.
Linguistic peculiarities remain
No one takes on fixed roles on stage. All those present are everything, sometimes in rotation, sometimes in unison. And yet the evening is not a Jelinekian text collage, but slavishly adheres to the chronological course of the book. Its five chapters, some of which are very different in terms of language, are left to their own devices.
It will now be interesting to see how the Vienna Festival deals with the "Blood Book" on May 18. German director Leonie Böhm will then present her interpretation at the Volkstheater, which premiered in Zurich in February. She will be joined on stage by Kim de l'Horizon herself as the original is transformed into a "blood play".
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