Experiencing Germany

Your first experience as a theatre director was from 1989 to 2001 in Dresden. Since then, you’ve been working in Magdeburg, first as Director of the Freie Kammerspiele theatre, and from 2004 onwards as General Director of the Drei-Sparten-Theater. How do the Magdeburg theatre audiences differ from those in Dresden?

Dresden is an old imperial city steeped in a Baroque cultural heritage and bourgeois cultural traditions. These are very much embedded in the consciousness of the Dresden people, and also manifest themselves as a sort of conceit and provincial arrogance. That said, this stance helped them survive the spiritual wasteland of East German socialism, for example, as Dresden, along with Leipzig, was the source of the strongest voices of opposition. Dresden was also the place where, immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall, new Minister-President Kurt Biedenkopf very successfully launched the Aufbau Ost programme for the reconstruction of eastern Germany. So the Dresden people’s strong self-image has remained almost intact throughout. Magdeburg, on the other hand, is a fractured city, the epitome of a lost history. It started with the great city fires during the Thirty Years War and culminated in the total and multiple collapse of its magnificent industrial history. There is practically nothing left of the huge East German heavy engineering combines, for example. The new, robust small and medium-sized enterprises have not been able to heal these fractures and this is still generating anger and a sense of wounded pride. Yet this feeling that they are lagging behind is also spawning ambitions and huge expectations. In the theatre, the people from Magdeburg are very much more open to extremes and it’s far easier to move them emotionally.

Critics are praising your "remarkable theatre work for and by the young people of Magdeburg". What are your main aims here?

There has been a strong focus on young people right from the start. Magdeburg’s younger generation is finding its place in an often depressing and sceptical environment, and is going about it in a very self-assured way. We tend not to be too directive; instead, we encourage them to give voice to powerful self-expression. They have a very marked interest in taking their fate into their own hands, yet also long to be noticed and to feel a sense of affirmation. This isn’t just about making a successful contribution to economic competitiveness – it’s also a hunger to find meaning and a desire to be part of community initiatives. We’ve tried to offer them the theatre – not just as a place for performances – but as somewhere real where they can truly grow. We can’t solve any conflicts here but we can teach them social skills and show them how to broaden their perspectives, let out their anger, look at issues in a more nuanced way, and take a fresh approach. Theatre is a cultural technique that civilises people.

"No matter what we do, people come in the same numbers and the applause always sounds the same." That’s how your Magdeburg-born friend Lutz Salzmann described Stuttgart’s theatre life in one interview. You don’t get much out of these "safe environments". Why is what you’ve found in Magdeburg more in tune with who you are?

There's more to the story, as I then said: "Great, then I want to go there too". Then Lutz Salzmann said: "But it’s good for actors to experience resistance." And that very nearly answers your question. I’m used to what we’re doing here. In the east, theatre plays out to a conclusion. For us it was never a place of representation.

"Magdeburg, the city with a certain nothing" was the assessment of one participant in the Internet’s German Architecture Forum. Do you share this view?

The city is still not selling itself very well. It hasn’t even started to sell the many, many changes – the university, its sports facilities, shopping centres and nightlife – and is not doing enough to showcase its rich and profound history. There are magnificent Romanesque buildings here, splendid exhibitions about history and culture, a huge and mysterious harbour on the River Elbe, beautiful districts constructed in the Gründerzeit of the 19th century, Elbe islands and lots of green spaces.

You’ve appointed Gonzalo Galguera from Cuba as your Ballet Director and Francesco Corti, your General Musical Director, comes from Milan. You think that the "Grüne Zitadelle" (green citadel), the new building in the city centre designed by Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, is "great for the city". And you are an ardent supporter of Tony Cragg, the British sculptor, in his efforts to erect his three twelve-metre high towering bronze Points Of View sculptures at the Universitätsplatz. Do you think that Magdeburg needs to catch up in terms of worldliness and sophistication?

Yes, the international nature of the ensemble here is enlightening and inspiring. And it’s definitely what we’re about. There is a huge yearning in this city for sophistication and a sense of belonging to the wider world. But this is forever being dulled by the stultifying nostalgia that is also prevalent, and has to contend with the injured pride of provincials who dislike anything alien or unknown. This is very evident in the discussions about Tony Cragg’s metal sculptures for the Universitätsplatz. Following the idea of his bronze towers made up of faces, we are collecting thousands of self-portrait photographs of people who support the sculptures. Tony Cragg did tell us, however, that he is used to coming up against this kind of opposition. It doesn’t only happen here.

You and your family moved to Magdeburg from Dresden. If someone who didn’t know the city asked where they could find the real Magdeburg, what would you say?

It’s an internal thing – the typical Magdeburg is more to be found in the hearts of the people. While outsiders are often very surprised at what they find, Magdeburgers themselves are very sceptical about their own city. But this scepticism conceals a local patriotic fervour, a strong empathy with their own situation and lots and lots of vision. Magdeburgers battle constantly between their belief in the future and the resignation that traditionally appears to afflict them. In this respect the real Magdeburg can’t really be seen.

Magdeburg has 230,000 inhabitants and every one is unique. Nevertheless, we would still like to ask you how you would characterise the typical Magdeburger?

Psychologically, the city is undergoing radical change and a young generation is starting to find its place. But if I had to try, I would say that they are very attached to their home, very sceptical about themselves, immensely vulnerable, extremely capable of being moved emotionally – which they try to hide, very conscious of how they look, quite reliable, cooperative, and they also have a strong sense of community.