Germany – Castellucci and Societas at the "Lessingtage” international theatre festival
The Lessingtage international theatre festival takes place in Hamburg from January 25 to February 12, organized by the Thalia Theater, one of three state theatres of the city.
The Lessing Days are always held between the anniversary of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's birth and death – i.e. between the end of January and the beginning of February, and since its foundation in 2009, the motto of the festival is: "Um alles in der Welt” (For everything in the world ). There are no primary or secondary themes in the 2023 edition either, just “the multiplicity of a fragmented world. A world that’s rarely been as disjointed and disruptive as it is today”.
Therefore, the programme presents a diverse range of themes, artists, styles and genres. Among the most awaited artists, and hosted by the festival for the first time, the Societas and Romeo Castellucci, who will stage the show Bros, a disturbing allegory on violence and the degeneration of power –a work that, like others by the celebrated director, is able to "shake our conscience".
As we read in the presentation by the festival, “Bros is an experiment: what happens if you put over twenty men on stage (amateur actors from Hamburg) who’ve collectively signed a pact agreeing to unquestioningly follow whatever orders they’re given by some opaque authority? It’s an evening about power, about suspending one’s own free will, about violence and mechanisms of war. (…). Castellucci masterfully weaves symbols of state power and law and order into a perfect artistic whole that blends choreography, theatre and visual art installation. And yet it’s also an evening of extremes, as horrifying as reality itself, an unsettling farce, a challenge to the senses”.
Bros is staged at the Thalia Theatre on February 1st and 2nd, 8pm.