ANN SAM BELL

Important issues such as climate change, fairness and responsibility influence our life choices to a greater and greater extent. In Eine Frage des Anfangs, Winterhalder has written an important piece which is realised in impressive fashion.

Sabine Flack and Philipp Nägele play with tremendous energy and physicality, with confidence and presence, so that a lightning-fast, multifaceted game to do with closeness and distance immediately arises.

an intense piece (...) in an extraordinary stage setting

Put simply, it is a gem of a text, which unsentimentally hits our most painful spots while simultaneously leaving us with the taste of ripe strawberries in our mouths and the certainty that seeds that are planted and cared for will be fine.

a very fine piece, communicated in a refreshing way

The “children’s” performance, Strawberries, is playful, expressive, physical and musical while the “adults’” performance, Cake, is more focused, subdued and text-based. (...) It sounds amazing.

Openness is what is most important for Nelly Winterhalder when writing drama. “I write about things that worry me, things I want to understand and explore through the writing.” She is concerned with empathy and wants to tell a story. “It’s not about effects; I want to see what happens when important issues are fed into the private sphere.”

A gift to listening:
The concept is beautiful and tolerates a good deal of improvisation, and I got to hear an extract from a text I’ve been wanting to read for a long time. Not least – and despite all the restrictions in the age of corona – The Theatre Telephone is able to offer something completely unexpected.