Mr. Miller goes to Budapest

Gábor Hollós (Ungarn) und Schaubühne Lindenfels (Deutschland)
 

Theater-series after Arthur Miller’s „The Archbishop’s Ceiling“

Emigration, silence, or withdrawal to private spaces? Today artists, journalists, filmmakers, and authors likewise are confronted with this question again all over the world. Also in Europe and in the EU. „Im Osten nichts Neues“ (Nothing new in the East) one could expect. But a western visitor realizes soon that he isn’t superior – neither ethically nor with arguments. Plus he as well is not immune against becoming himself a player in the „panopticum“ which Michael Foucault creates in his work „Discipline and Punish“. In his analysis Foucault has a very good reason not to divide between eastern and western hemisphere: McCarthyism, the Watergate scandal, NSA-monitoring, mind tests, and occupational bans within the federal republic of Germany show the same phenomena and susceptibilities within western democracies. At the end, even private resorts and relationships are contaminated by self-censorship, mistrust, anger and desperation. 
 
Somewhere between psychological thriller, intimate theater and film noir Arthur Miller’s piece „The Archbishop’s Ceiling“ from 1977 tells the story of a surprising meeting of three authors from the East – two men, one woman – and a befriended American writer takes place. The American is outfitted with Miller’s own personality, including his doubts about the American Way of Life. As a joker a seemingly aloof Danish girl as representative of the young generation of hedonists and travel-kids from the West appears. A dialogue about basic thoughts and feelings towards freedom of opinion, autonomy, and democracy.

Director: Gábor Hollós | Dramaturg: René Reinhardt | Stage/Costumedesginer: Elisabeth Schiller-Witzmann | Cameraman: István Hollós | Actors: Johannes Gabriel, David Jeker, Attila Király, Laila Nielsen, Kata Pálfi, Mario Rothe-Frese, Csaba Sorbán | Experts: Ágnes Heller, Christian Römer, Stefan Schönfelder  | A project by Schaubühne Lindenfels / Schau-Ensemble  | In cooperation with Stiftung weiterdenken / Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Sachsen |  Funded by Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen and Goethe-Institut.