German premier

A cove, a burrow, picked by a living being as a sanctuary. Whether human being or animal, it does not only want to hide itself, but it wants to breach the wall to gain its freedom. But it also recoils at the idea of a confrontation with the unknown. The various behaviour patterns of a figure, embodied by three actors, assume the simultaneous characteristics of both comedy and tragedy. Within the burrow are secret tunnels and a central dwelling. The cave animal tries to escape into the real world, but later feels itself threatened by an external enemy, by danger and so everything ends as it had begun. Not always leads seemingly apparent freedom to inner independence.

The Prague-born Franz Kafka (1883-1924) has a magic power of fascinating on the theatre – and above all on its directors such as Giorgio Barberio Corsetti who prefers strange-dangerous and surrealistic situations to realistic presentations. (Here one should be reminded of Vienna’s Burgtheater guest performance of the Kafka production »Berichte für eine Akademie« (»Reports for an academy«) by George Tabori during the 1993 euro-scene Leipzig.)

Giorgio Barberio Corsetti is one of the most important representatives of the contemporary independent theatre in Italy. He was born in 1951 in Rome, studied art history and attended the theatre academy of his native city. Corsetti belongs to the few exceptions of his country, who through experimental attempts and the crossing of fixed genre borders pursues new stylistic ways. In 1975, he founded the troupe La Gaia Scienza that was superseded in 1983 by the present company. Above all, he created many of his own productions, but he also directed Shakespearean plays as well as those of Majakowski. He also designs stage sets.

The production »Descrizione di una battaglia« (»Description of a battle«) unites scenic, linguistic and musical elements in a most original manner. At last year’s »Festival d’automne à Paris« it achieved real triumphs after countless performances in Italy and other countries. For the first time ever, Corsetti and his company now make a guest appearance in the new federaI provinces.