MACBETH at Palais Liechtenstein - 27.6.2012 |
THE AMERICAN DRAMA GROUP EUROPE is reviving their highly acclaimed version of Shakespeare's darkest and most exciting tragedy. The production has toured to over twenty countries on three continents, in venues as diverse as a ruined plantation house in Atlanta to Windsor Castle, from major theatres in Tokyo and Berlin to palaces in Vienna and Stockholm. The history of THE AMERICAN DRAMA GROUP EUROPE is a learning-by-doing, work in progress development, or series of developments which at times seemed less focused on presenting plays than hard grit survival. Our first performances of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF at the University of Munich lecture hall 101 from June 26, 1978-July 7, 1978 grew out of a desire to simply "do it my way" to quote the famous Frank Sinatra song, meaning of course "that I could do it better than others involved in the same field." Although the passage of time often clearly stated its own opinions on this philosophy, forcing many alterations and compromises, the show was able to go on-sometimes rushing blindly forward, sometimes tip-toeing at a snails pace. Because the feeling never really existed that we were in complete control of events taking place, decisions about the choices of plays, directors and performance places were often based on the "throw in the air and see what comes down principle" rather than the feeling of having rationally thought things through. This flailing out, run and hide method had its advantages in that it created a certain hectic energy which not only guaranteed new productions, but blotted out for brief moments at least the question of whether "decisions" being made were right or wrong. But as is often the case of the young mother with the new-born child, it put the organization in a position of responsibility from which it could not simply flee. Signed contracts, whether with authors´ agents, theatres or actors had to be honored, new offers of performances could not simply be ignored. So the organization continued to function and grow, often powered by its own energy. 13 productions-1000 performances--three continents, ca 45 countries, more than 400 cities, 8 major organizations, ca 80 artistic participants, constitute the important numbers in ADGE´s definition of 2008. TNT Theatre Britain, TOUR DE FORCE THEATRE, THEATRE EN ANGLAIS PARIS, ASHLEY ASSOCIATES; Tokyo, MYRIAM WOKER, Singapore , MILKY WAY, Beijing, SVATA SCHLAFER, Prague and ANGELIKA MARTIN, Germany have all gotten hooked on our irresistible philosophy. So have a few hundred thousand other persons who will attend our performances this season. Grantly Marshall |