Deutsch Theater

My priorities coming to Germany were very clear: 1) find a place to live, 2) figure out how to eat, and 3) find theater as quickly as possible.

One of my biggest concerns about coming to Germany was whether or not that meant I would be putting my theater career on hold for one, two years, which was a dreadful prospect. I knew that Tübingen had at least two professional theaters, the impressive Landestheater (LTT) and the smaller Zimmertheater. But as far as I could tell, it was very infrequent for either of these theaters to produce plays in English, and it would be quite some time before my German would be good enough to act in.

Friends of my roommate Anne pointed me in a good direction to look. "There are a lot of student groups at the University... you should go down and check out the Brechtbau." I followed this advice. The Brechtbau houses the foreign-language department of Uni-Tübingen, and it has a very cool black-box theater built into the ground floor. This theater, as I could tell by my visit, was home to about 8 - 10 active student groups, two of which did only English-speaking plays.

My friend Claire did some investigating and also returned some leads for me - her friend who was active in theater gave me three leads: 1) there was an upcoming production of 'Singing in the Rain', but it was unclear whether it would be in German. 2) The Provisional Players, a group at the Brechtbau, was a good group to ask. 3) "The English Theater group is putting on "Twelfth Night" this coming semester. It will be directed by Altug, who is from Turkey and is better at English than German."

I sent Altug an email shortly, and he invited me to attend a workshop that he was teaching in preparation for his production. I went to the workshop and got to see the Brechtbau theater for the first time. I told Altug that I would be delighted to act in his production if he had a role for me, and on September 16th, about 6 weeks after arriving here, I showed up for the first rehearsal of my first play in Germany.

"Twelfth Night" was amazing for so many reasons. First, I met some of the best people I know through the production, and it was a great way to become introduced to the whole student theater community. Second, working on a play in a foreign country, albeit an English play, was incredibly interesting, and the differences in the way the actors here work is very fascinating. Third, it was the first time I really felt like I was part of something here, which did miracles for any homesickness I was feeling. And most importantly, it was ridiculously fun!

The play used the story and text of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" and contorted it into a grotesque style, overlaying heavy physical acting. All of the characters, which were silly, exaggerated versions of themselves, were played in Clown makeup and bright, flashy costumes. The props and scenery were created out of two ropes that hung from the top of the stage and various curtains.

But enough talk! Let's see some pictures.

Duke Orsino and Viola

Malvolio addresses the ensemble

Feste reads a letter for Olivia

Yours truly as the big pink Sir Andrew Aguecheek.

The production went very well, played for a week, and sold out all of the performances, which was very surprising to me - there seems to be a ton of support for the University Theater here.

During the rehearsals of "Twelfth Night", I learned a little bit about the Anglo-Irish Theater Group, which was the producer of the show. It is a group with a rich tradition and a 30 year history, but is currently suffering from not having enough directors to put on productions.

This seemed to me to be a potential win-win: I've directed shows in the States and honestly prefer it to acting, and here there are tons of people interested in acting but directing isn't as desirable. I talked to several people about how to break into directing here and they all had the same response: Just pick a play and do it.

I met with the man who is more or less in charge of the Anglo-Irish at the moment, Jens, and asked him if the group would be interested in using me as a director. Apparently, it was a good time to ask: next year is the official thirty-year anniversary of the Anglo-Irish group, and they had no play and no director.

The next step was to pick a play to do - Jens lent me about fifteen plays, which I quickly read... we were looking for something that was classic, iconic for either a Irish or British play, and really would invoke interest. I had strong feelings toward choosing Brian Friel's Translations, a play that I like very much and thought would be especially cool to direct over here, as it is a play about language barrier. The other finalist for me was Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy, a ridiculous and fun farce by one of my favorite playwrights. Since I really couldn't decide between the two, I thought I'd let the group pick.

We announced a reading night and had 15 folks show up and read scenes from both plays. I explained how I would approach the plays as a director and then we voted. That made it official - I will be directing a production of Black Comedy, to open in May of 2010. Even better, there was still enough support for Translations that we're going to put it up in the fall.

The next step is to have an audition / casting day, which will be in two weeks, and then rehearsals will begin in February.

But Black Comedy is not my next project - I'm currently in rehearsals for a production of Annie. Yes, the 80's American Musical that we all know so well. One of the actors that was in the show dropped out, and the stage manager called me and asked if I would take over the role of President Roosevelt, the deus ex machina character whom Annie helps to solve the Great Depression through her persistent optimism, and who in response helps Annie to solve the mystery of her missing parents.

What I heard: I get to act, sing, dance, and do it all from a wheelchair. Sold!

Annie is through a musical theater group at the University, and it's being performed at the LTT theater in January. Don't worry - there will be pictures.

So, in my first five months, I'm already working on my second play as an actor and I'm slated to direct two the following year. Hopefully that gives me enough time to get my German to the point where I can start acting in German.

So, it's pretty safe to say that putting my theater career on hold turned out to be the least of my worries!

Updates - Ich bin noch nicht tot!

So, it's time to pick this blog back up. A lot has changed since the end of September, so I've got plenty of news.

Work

I began working at the DAI Tübingen in October. At first, I substituted for a couple classes and did private lessons, helping prepare students who were studying for big English exams like the TOEFL and IELTS. In November I took over a beginner class that meets on Tuesday and Thursday nights. The students are three middle-aged ladies who are very sweet and lots of fun. The class comes to an end this week. I wasn't given a regular class to teach for the following semester, but I'm slated to teach an intensive course for 11th / 12th grade kids the first week in January, which will be very fun.

At the end of October, Claire recommended me to the Deutsch-Amerikanisch Zentrum in Stuttgart, and they promptly asked me to come meet them. They had had an emergency with a teacher and needed to replace her instantly for an upcoming intensive class for 11 / 12th grade kids, so I took the job and got to travel to Stuttgart every day for a week to teach the course. That age of student is one of my favorites, and we worked on lots of fun projects, ranging from speeches to short plays to interpreting Emo music (thanks for the help, Green Day). The kids had a great time with me and I was invited to teach a similar intensive in February of next year, and again in April, both of which I graciously accepted.

The folks at the DAZ are some of the nicest and most welcoming people that I've ever encountered, and I am very lucky to have fallen into that job. Along with the intensive courses, they're also launching a series of public speeches for high school groups, a couple of which I'll be able to do.

I was also taken on by another language school in Stuttgart called Arenalingua. They send "trainers" out to companies across Germany to teach Business English courses. I didn't expect to get much work from them, but before I was even done with orientation they had offered me a job teaching at a machinery firm in a village called Hailfingen, which is about 20 minutes from Tübingen by car. So for the next four months, every Monday and Friday morning I wake up very early and go teach for several hours there. I have three different classes, ranging from complete beginners to upper intermediate students. We talk about effective business communication, telephone and email skills, and lots of grammar (natürlich). It's a nice, consistent job.

So I'm working! It's still not enough - the DAI and DAZ are both too sporadic to help me consistently pay rent and bills, but when I find a few more private students, I'll be in a good place. Also, the work that I've already gotten was enough to secure my visa, so I'm legally able to stay here!

German

I took intensive German courses for three months, and finished in the end of November. My language has much improved since my arrival, but three months does not a fluent speaker make, and the more I learn the more I realize I don't know. I try to use German as much as possible in daily life, with my roommates, in stores, and with friends, but I get stuck quite often.

It's clear that I need to really develop a plan of how to work by myself - between a mix of reading lots of German books, using computer programs, drilling vocabulary with flash cards, and forcing usage in as many situations as I can.

Living

The lease for my original apartment ended at the end of October, so I had to look for another apartment, as did my roommates. Unfortunately, we were searching at a terrible time, as the semester was just beginning and many students were also looking for places. Also, although we knew we might have to split up, we really had become friends the last four months and wanted to stay together if at all possible.

And it was possible. We finally found a flat in Lustnau, a neighborhood northeast of the city center. The flat is beautiful, it has lots of space, and it's perfect for four people. The downside was the price - in addition to the rent and security deposit, we had to pay a "Finder's Fee" to the real estate which was to the tune of 2,000 euros - at our current exchange rate, that's three grand, of which I had to pay a fourth. It was the financial equivalent of Ajax throwing himself upon his own sword, except without the honor gained. But some things are worth more than money, and I was very lucky to have found the roommates that I did, and I'm very happy to be living here.

Want to see my new Wohnung?

Exterior - I live above a bakery and a Chinese restaurant.

We live on the fourth floor, at the very top. (In Germany we call this the third floor, because the bottom one doesn't count)

Here are some interior shots:

The actual apartment is two floors, with the upstairs housing Gregor and Phillip, and the bottom has Anne and me, as well as our kitchen and dining room.

Speaking of that, here's our nice little dining room:

We often have family dinners:

From left to right, me, Phillip, Gregor, Sabine (Anne's friend), and Anne. This night I had cooked Putenschnitzel for everyone (fried turkey cutlets).

And here are some views from the apartment - both of these are from my bedroom window.

If you'd like to see the apartment for yourself, and you don't mind traveling to Germany, why don't you come to our housewarming party this Saturday night?

From left to right, me, a skeleton, Phillip, and Anne. (Not pictured: Gregor)

I've got plenty more to tell you about - my Theater activity since arriving in Germany is a whole blog on its own (and it's very exciting, at least for me), so I'll try to update again in the next couple days. Also, my mom came to visit me here and spent the last ten days here (she left yesterday morning) and we did a lot of exciting things, so that's coming as well.

Sorry to lose touch - I'm doing great and can't wait to tell more.

I guess what's the most interesting change for me is that I feel like Tübingen really feels like my home now. I have no yearning to go running back to the United States, I'm over that, and I'm just really comfortable here.