An Evening Celebrating Transatlantic Friends
hip – Theatre, Dialogue, and Community
On the occasion of Ger
man-American Friendship Day and in celebration of the long-standing
pa
rtnership between Hamburg and Chicago, The English Theatre of Hamburg invit
es you to a special
evening of live performance, cultural exchange, an
d community.
The evening will feature the acclaimed absurdist play THE
HUNCHBACK VARIATIONS by Mickle Maher,
introduced by Chicago-born dire
ctor Rebecca Garron. Following the play, we will explore the Chicago
t
heatre scene and the legacy of absurdism in American theatre.
In the s
pirit of connection and collaboration, we will also hear brief presentation
s from a variety of
American clubs and institutions here in Hamburg, h
ighlighting the vibrant and diverse transatlantic
community in our cit
y.
We look forward to celebrating the many ways in which art, friendsh
ip, and cultural dialogue
continue to bring us together.
Punctua
ting the final scene of The Cherry Orchard, Anton Chekhov wrote: “Suddenly
a distant sound
is heard, coming as if out of the sky, like the sound
of a string snapping, slowly and sadly dying away.”
That one sentence
— one of the greatest stage directions in Western theatre — has baffled sou
nd
designers for over a century.
In Mickle Maher’s THE HUNCHBACK
VARIATIONS, the playwright has developed a deft deconstruction
of arti
stic collaboration through the absurdist conceit of pairing two of history’
s most famous deaf
artists, Ludwig van Beethoven and Quasimodo, the fi
ctional bell ringer of Notre Dame. Over 11
scenes, or ‘variations,’ th
e story plays out the duo’s comical and frustrating attempts to create
Chekov’s famous sound effect – one doomed by their mutual deafness, unplea
sant working
conditions, and the fact that Beethoven has not yet finis
hed reading The Cherry Orchard.
THE HUNCHBACK VARIATIONS questions the
nature of music and sound, and performance in a
moving and fearless m
editation on collaboration and the creative process.
COST;Tickets at € 25,00 are available at the theatre’s box office, by phon e 040/227 70 89, or online on the
theatre’s website:
eth-hamburg
.de
An Evening Celebr
ating Transatlantic Friendship – Theatre, Dialogue, and Community<
br />On the occasion of German-American Friendship Day and in celebration o
f the long-standing
partnership between Hamburg and Chicago, The Engli
sh Theatre of Hamburg invites you to a special
evening of live perform
ance, cultural exchange, and community.
The evening will feature the a
cclaimed absurdist play THE HUNCHBACK VARIATIONS by Mickle Maher,
intr
oduced by Chicago-born director Rebecca Garron. Following the play, we will
explore the Chicago
theatre scene and the legacy of absurdism in Amer
ican theatre.
In the spirit of connection and collaboration, we will a
lso hear brief presentations from a variety of
American clubs and inst
itutions here in Hamburg, highlighting the vibrant and diverse transatlanti
c
community in our city.
We look forward to celebrating the many
ways in which art, friendship, and cultural dialogue
continue to bring
us together.
Punctuating the final scene of The Cherry Orchard, Anto
n Chekhov wrote: “Suddenly a distant sound
is heard, coming as if out
of the sky, like the sound of a string snapping, slowly and sadly dying awa
y.”
That one sentence — one of the greatest stage directions in Wester
n theatre — has baffled sound
designers for over a century.
In Mi
ckle Maher’s THE HUNCHBACK VARIATIONS, the playwright has developed a deft
deconstruction
of artistic collaboration through the absurdist conceit
of pairing two of history’s most famous deaf
artists, Ludwig van Beet
hoven and Quasimodo, the fictional bell ringer of Notre Dame. Over 11
scenes, or ‘variations,’ the story plays out the duo’s comical and frustrat
ing attempts to create
Chekov’s famous sound effect – one doomed by th
eir mutual deafness, unpleasant working
conditions, and the fact that
Beethoven has not yet finished reading The Cherry Orchard.
THE HUNCHBA
CK VARIATIONS questions the nature of music and sound, and performance in a
moving and fearless meditation on collaboration and the creative proc
ess.
COST;Tickets at € 25,00 are available at the th eatre’s box office, by phone 040/227 70 89, or online on the
theatre’
s website:
eth-hamburg.de