Schwanengesang

In the organizer's words:

Swan song

Tragicomedy. By Thomas Weber-Schallauer based on a story by Anton Chekhov

About the play

The old, worn-out comedian Svetlovidov has fallen asleep drunk in his dressing room after his last performance. Now he wanders across the empty stage at night. He is joined by the young prompter Ivanyc, who has no home and secretly uses the theater as a place to sleep. The old actor sums up his life with him - a rather dreary life balance. He thinks aloud about the great roles of world literature and turns the young Ivanyc, who is in a precarious situation, into a playing partner in need. Over time, the play between the old Svetlovidov and Ivanyc turns into a conflict-ridden father-and-son relationship. The authority of the "father" Svetlovidov crumbles before the resistance of the "son" Ivanyc. Rifts of misunderstanding, mutual rejection and disappointment open up between them. The old man's time seems to be inexorably coming to an end, allowing the young man to take his place. Ivanyc seizes his chance - with the means of the theater!

The play is set in relation to Erik Roßbander's own career, which began in 1984 in the GDR and continued with 35 years of intensive theater work in the bremer shakespeare company. The young prompter Ivanyc is played by Ilja Roßbander, who, after completing his acting studies at the Otto-Falckenberg-Schule in Munich, was mainly active as an actor in film and television productions. The joint stage appearance of father and son is a novelty in Bremen.

Director Thomas Weber-Schallauer has already staged several Shakespeare plays and others at the bremer shakespeare company, including "Pericles" (2013), "Love's Labour's Lost" (2011) and "As You Like It" (2015).

Cast

Text/director: Thomas Weber-Schallauer
Stage/costumes: Heike Neugebauer
With: Erik Roßbander, Ilja Roßbander

With the kind support of the Rotary-Club Bremen-Weser, the Stiftung Schwule Freunde Bremen, the Nicolaus Heinrich Schilling Stiftung and the Freunde und Förderer der bremer shakespeare company.

Duration: approx. 1:45 without intermission

Price information:

normal: 27 € reduced: 15 € Free admission for students of the University, HS and HfK Bremen and HKS Ottersberg