An adaptation of 'Das blaue blaue Meer' by Nis-Momme Stockmann
The fourth and final reading in this year's German Spotlight series is
Nis-Momme Stockmann's
Das blaue blaue Meer.
Director
Satchit Puranik has titled his adaptation
The Blue, Blue Sea - Confessions Of A Recovering Alcoholic.
The Blue, Blue Sea explores a dystopian estate in present day Germany. Social housing architecture that conveniences suicide. Drinking buddies that barely listen, neighbourhood kids that make cruel songs. Darko’s alcoholic mind takes one through the underbelly of where the misfits belong - and ‘long’ to belong. Motte -the teenage prostitute, Elle - his excuse for human company, Ulrike - Elle’s younger sister who has a crush on Darko - all of them live and survive in the same estate. Waiting for death, while liquor gives living some semblance. The hope of a clear, dark night with glowing stars and the much promised ideal of ’the blue, blue sea’ keeps them fighting against the relentless drudgery of the impoverished human condition.
The director was hooked onto the fact that the original German version was written as a radio play. The soundscape of the estate, the musicality of dialogue, the cyclical rhythms of structure and the succinct brevity of the English translation - all of these made it the most compelling choice. Alcoholism and its aftermath is a universal phenomenon, across classes, cultures and countries. Hence, the adaptation where the performers create the soundscape in retrospect, of what happens when one is/was drunk! The actual beverage may be substituted by a mocktail, but what about the addiction to the ‘familiar ritual of not knowing better’?
Satchit Puranik is a Mumbai (& Bengaluru) based, multilingual theatre & filmmaker who works in multiple capacities – writer, director, casting director, performer, editor & producer. Born in Mumbai and raised in Baroda, his education at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai (in Economics & Hindi Literature) & Film and Television Institute of India, Pune (in Video Direction & Film Editing) ensured he ended up working and creating in multiple cities, outside Mumbai – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Amsterdam amongst others in projects in around 9 languages – Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Dakhini Urdu, Dutch & French. His filmography comprises of feature films like Court (as director of casting), Ship Of Theseus (as editor), Garbage (as actor), Mr. Ya Miss (as director) amongst others. As a theatre maker, his plays include Karl Marx In Kalbadevi, Ammi Jaan, Loitering, The President is Coming, Noises Off, Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon, Wedding Album, Brief Candle, Mareez, Bharati Deuxieme – dans le palais des illusions and many more. His tryst with Documentary Theatre began at Frascati Producties, Amsterdam on two projects – Family 81 and Mahabharata along with his double stint at Shakespeare’s Globe, London ensured that he has been performing over 400 shows across a dozen countries in the world.
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