Posts

Showing posts from August, 2013

Who says when the stage director has gone too far? The audience?

I was struck by this article in the New York Times about Frank Castorf, famous German director, and his new production of The Ring Cycle at Bayreuth. First off, to direct at Bayreuth is an honor. The festival theater was built FOR The Ring Cycle, under the genius of Wagner himself, who is credited with pushing along and defining the role of the director in the modern theater. And Frank Castorf is no unknown. He's run the Volksbrune theater in Berlin since 1992 and is known for his avante-guarde work. (I saw his Medea when I was in Berlin in 2009, the theater was being renovated so it was staged on the front steps of the theater:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESGluUOXDlc ) So when a director known for their desecration of text and insane directorial concepts is hired to direct THE RING CYCLE what do you expect? Sure, parts of it sound horrible to me. And sure, the audience booed. And there he stood, pointing at them. He wanted to make them angry. It's what he does! So