claudia bosse / theatercombinat

13th september 2018 – opera/ performance/ spatial choreography. in the framework of favoriten festival. maschinenhalle friedlicher nachbar, bochum (d) | 16th/20th – 22nd/24th/25th/27th/28th october 2017 – world premiere. an experimental musical arrangement, vienna (a) POEMS of the DAILY MADNESS by claudia bosse and günther auer / theatercombinat.

dossier
selected press
program (de)

press reviews (de):
- theater der zeit
- tiroler tageszeitung

interview with claudia bosse & günther auer, radio ORANGE 94.0

POEMS of the DAILY MADNESS is a singspiel* by günther auer (composition) and claudia bosse (text/ scenery/ artistic direction). this musical performance examines the impact of our political present on the rituals of our everyday lives, on our thoughts and our actions within an ever polarizing public.

inspired by everyday life, media coverage, true crime cases and terror attacks, claudia bosse has created a montage of fragmentary texts as a libretto. based on this linguistic material, günther auer developed compositions and scores that borrow and change styles of the 20th century between working-class songs and electrically generated orchestral sounds.

MADNESS, POEMS, HATE CRIME and TERROR are allegories for manifestations of our present. the 4 singing actors use textile objects to continuously change the space that unfolds in POEMS of the DAILY MADNESS as a space choreography between the audience. opera as an accessible installation, as a shared space of different attitudes, manifestations and opposing facts. different levels of alienation meet with pleasure. how can the real become poetic in order to be thought?

the premiere was on october 16th, 2017 at 8pm at nordbahn-halle in vienna, further performances on 20th - 22nd/24th/25th/27th/28th october 2017.

for the favoriten festival 2018, claudia bosse is implanting the current production of theatercombinat into the colliery friedlicher nachbar in bochum. with a choir from the ruhr region, the CHOIR OF THE DAMNED gets a voice and expands the ensemble.

*a singspiel, literally „sing-play“, is a form of german-language music drama/opera, characterized by spoken dialogue, alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads and often strophic, folk-like arias.

"in claudia bosses "POEMS of the DAILY MADNESS", compiled slogans become subversive music theatre, an opera installation in which the audience moves freely between the performers, who are usually in the highest state of excitement. in the language of the internet age, everything becomes a cry, love as well as hate, rebellion as well as affirmation. bosse poeticizes the populist and creates new scopes for political action, so that "poems of the daily madness" is entirely in line with the festival leaders {of favoriten festival}, who want to negotiate the political above all through form." (theater der zeit 11/2018)

"a striking work by a strong artistic personality. (...) what is otherwise spoken comes across as wild, angular, dense and artificial, as a poem performed in german and english with an intellectual impetus. claudia bosse is a bulky formulator, who counteracts the sweetness of the usual lettuce with a light and yet tough gesture (...)" (der standard, 21/10/2017)

photos of the rehearsals and shows in vienna, 2017.
click to view photo series.
photo: eva würdinger

photos of the extended version with a choir, favoriten festival 2018. click to view photo series.
photo: reinhold görling

concept/ text/ scenery/ artistic direction: claudia bosse; composition/ soundsetting: günther auer; with/ by: mirjam klebel (MADNESS), nic lloyd (HATE CRIME), nicola schössler (POEMS), alexandra sommerfeld (TERROR); costume/ technical direction: marco tölzer; critical witness: johannes porsch, alexander schellow; assistant to the director: noah zeldin, dagmar tröstler; voice training: noah zeldin, guillaume fauchere; technics: lukas rawik; assistant of production/ intern: charlotte kallenberg, julia gfrerrer; communication: vicky klug; head of production: roma hurey, alexander matthias kosnopfl.

the show in the framework of favoriten festival is completed by a CHOR of the DAMNED: ines hardieck, sarah heckner, friedhelm koch, elke köhn, mamadoo mehrnejad, susanne slobodzian, josephin tischner, julia wendel, anne werthmann; head of choir: julia wendel.

a production by theatercombinat, in cooperation with workspacebrussels, supported by wien kultur. special thanks to sirene operntheater. the adaptation for the favoriten festival is made possible by a grant from the kunststiftung nrw.

POEMS of the DAILY MADNESS
an experimental musical arrangement
by claudia bosse/ günther auer
with a local choir
in the framework of favoriten festival 2018 (de)
13th september 2018

maschinenhalle friedlicher nachbar
deimketal 9
44797 bochum (de)

world premiere
16th/20th – 22nd/24th/25th/27th/28th october 2017,
nordbahn-halle
leystraße 157
1020 vienna (at)

residency at workspacebrussels
28th march – 15th april 2016
developing first ideas together with the performers katja dreyer, nora steinig and florian tröbinger.

kaaistudio's
OLV van vaakstraat 81,
rue notre-dame du sommeil
1000 brussels (b)

video of the shows in vienna, 2017.
director of photography: tom jasny, editor: guenther auer

video of the extended version with a choir, favoriten festival 2018.
director of photography/ editing: robin junicke