The news about German playwright-director René Pollesch’s sudden death at the age of 61 on February 26, 2024, hit hard – not only the theatre scene but the whole cultural sphere in Germany and beyond.
Ich schau dir in die Augen, gesellschaftlicher Verblendungszusammenhang! (Seoul, 2012)
Since then, countless obituaries – with the title of Pollesch’s latest and last play, Ja nichts ist ok (“Yes nothing is okay”), as the obvious tagline – have been published in German media (see nachtkritik.de for an overview). Actor Fabian Hinrichs, one of his frequent collaborators, even called for an embargo on obituaries (“Why not one month, two month, one year later?”).
For English-readers, these two articles – a longer one in the New York Times, a shorter one in the Guardian – sum up the most important information on his humble background (his “caretaker father” is mentioned regularly, his house wive mother only in a few articles), his productive life (from early work in Gießen, Frankfurt, Zürich etc. to his long, briefly interrupted tenure at Volksbühne Berlin), and his ambiguous, large but unreplayable heritage. (For a more academic take on his earlier work, see, for instance, David Barnett, “Political theatre in a shrinking world: René Pollesch’s postdramatic practices on paper and on stage”, Contemporary Theatre Review 16.1 (2006): 31–40, https://doi.org/10.1080/10486800500450957.)
If I count correctly, I have seen two of Pollesch’s works, one while studying theatre in Berlin (as part of a seminar), another one in Seoul (as part of a job, which was writing the announcement for Goethe-Institut Korea’s website, and checking the Korean translation).
Of the first one, I don’t recall much more than the title, Pablo in der Plusfiliale, “Plus” (an acronym of “Prima leben und sparen”, i.e. “live great and save”) referring to a supermarket chain, as seen in the photo below. Of course, there was no supermarket set on stage and no “Pablo” to be seen. Fragments of “discourse-shit” (not my words), such as “integrating one’s sexuality” or “terminating the contract” reappeared in recurring loops, with on-stage dancing and karaoke providing time-outs. This was a rather typical Pollesch-play of that era.
More memorable than this performance was René Pollesch’s appearance in a series of talks with practitioners, a refreshing addition to our mostly theoretical curriculum. One particular statement he made stuck with me: He talked about a scene in which a black actor is body-checked for drugs on stage (I’m not sure if he was referring to a concrete production or if this was a made-up example). The point he made was that the re-enactment of violence in this scene – whether intended as critique or not – was also a reproduction of violence.
As far as I know, René Pollesch (usually spelled 르네 폴레쉬, sometimes 폴리슈) had never been to Korea. Ich schau dir in die Augen, gesellschaftlicher Verblendungszusammenhang! (2010, trailer on Vimeo), his first collaborative monodrama with actor Fabian Hinrichs, had been invited to open Festival Bo:m in spring 2011 but was cancelled following the Fukushima disaster. I saw it the following year, on March 22, 2012, but Pollesch himself had not come.
Ich schau dir in die Augen, gesellschaftlicher Verblendungszusammenhang! (Seoul, 2012)
This guest performance was a highlight of my time at Goethe-Institut Seoul, during which “postdramatic theatre” (포스트드라마 연극) played a quite important role. Hans-Thies Lehmann’s eponymous 1999 classic was published in Korean translation (2013, as 포스트드라마 연극, translated by 김기란) and She She Pop visited two times, once with their fathers, once without)
The Korean title is as long as the German one (현혹의 사회적 맥락이여: 당신의 눈동자에 건배를), which translates to “Here’s Looking at You, Social Context of Delusion”, and I remember vividly discussing possible alternative translations (even though the title seems to have been fixed already the year before). In my notes from back then, I further dwell in the intricacies of the title:
The English translation of this historical [?] title is ambivalent. International festivals use Here’s Looking at You, Social Context of Delusion!, which is orthodox both with regard to Casablanca and Adorno. An academic article uses Looking You in the Eyes, Social Context of Deception, dropping both references in favor of a more poignant (yet apocryphal) translation of the Adornian term “Verblendung”. How about: Social Glare of Blindness, (Have a) Look at Me, where the reversed subject acknowledges what seems like a Freudian slip common in German renderings of the famous quote (“Schau mir in die Augen, Kleines…”) but, according to Wikipedia, is based on an early German dubbing.
Regardless of the title, seeing Fabian Hinrichs criss-cross the stage, a one-man band on speed, with his text slipping by in Korean translation, was an intense experience. And reading actors, critics, and other theatre people reminisce about Pollesch and his way of working, now, I wish I had seen more of his work.
Given that René Pollesch’s plays are not available for restaging by others, there is some possibility that they will disappear from stage. But if his legacy remains alive and his plays continue to be played, there might be a slim chance of seeing his work in Korea again. Until then, rest in peace and here’s looking at you!
Ich schau dir in die Augen, gesellschaftlicher Verblendungszusammenhang! (Seoul, 2012)
— 26 Feb. 2024 (月)
Seoul Stages 