Theater evening

Our right to abortion

A "clump of cells" becomes a "problem case" - in Voss' world of female rabbits, the inherently difficult subject becomes a little lighter.(Bild: markmosman)

Director Barbara Herold brought a not primarily theater-friendly topic to the stage in Feldkirch. Three world premieres revolved around the topic of abortion in "Das Rote vom Ei".

One half of the population can become pregnant, the other half decides whether this pregnancy leads to motherhood - or is that not quite the case after all? It is questions like these that director Barbara Herold from dieheroldfliri.at posed on Thursday evening at the Altes Hallenbad in Feldkirch.

Three authors wrote short plays for this production, micro-thematic overlaps could not be avoided, the thrust was common to all three authors: an absolute yes to the right to abortion. Anyone who thinks that this is a foregone conclusion should look to parts of the USA or even to tiny Vorarlberg - there, as there, the seemingly firmly established has begun to waver.

Male view of the female sex
Both Gabriele Kögl and Gertraud Klemm focus on head-on collisions in their plays: the mendacious collides with the plight of the individual, the need for equality with the striving to maintain power, the necessary with the ideological.

Kögl's text was punchy, while Klemm's delivered a whole cultural history of the topic of the uterus in bite-sized chunks. The absurdity inherent in the topic is also demonstrated by the fact that even a bishop - dressed in signal orange by Caro Stark - makes a grand entrance.

Grischka Voss took a somewhat less elaborate approach in her "Nightmare in twelve pictures". A pregnant bunny feels uncomfortable in her imposed role as a rabbit, depressed contraceptives form a self-help group and a so-called "cell cluster" gets really stressed.

"The red of the egg"

with Maria Fliri, Sarah Zaharanski and Peter Bocek.
Production: Barbara Herold, stage and costumes: Caro Stark
Dates: March 16, 17, 19, 20, 21 and 22, each at 8 pm, except March 17 (5 pm).

Strong contrasts in image and language
Stark set the stage in a conspicuously cool manner - which emphasized the liveliness of Maria Fliri, Sarah Zaharanski and Peter Bocek all the more. For the ensemble of three, the evening with its numerous role changes was an almost athletic challenge. The wit of the characters, their insecurity and even their big-headedness spit out the three of them onto this over-clean, white stage like overdue splashes of color.

The production with an educational touch is entertaining, especially when the role models are brutally broken up. It's a shame that so few men laughed on the opening night. But how could there be more, there were only around ten in the audience.