Partisan

The now legendary Berlin theatre Volksbühne was founded in 1992, in a united capitalist Germany, and right from the beginning it has been a radical alternative. With its revolutionary visual profile and collective work methods, in addition to plays where absolutely nothing is taboo and a performance might easily go on for six plus hours, it is not interested in respectable entertainment. At the same time, there is genuine artistic merit behind all of the provocation.

Volksbühne has influenced theatres worldwide – including in Norway – with its use of video, its revolutionary acting style, and its disrespectful and original approach to both the classics and newer drama. Partisan guides us through the history of Volksbühne; from the beginning in 1992 when director Frank Castorf started the whole thing, and until he was forced to resign in 2016. There are clips and interviews where everyone from the most hands-on workers to the Man Himself get to present their version of the history. This is an entertaining and enlightening documentary, which will renew your faith that art can be something important and dangerous, something that can not only change society – but create something entirely new.

After the screening Thursday June 7 there a panel discussion will be held on the importance of Volksbühne for German and Norwegian theatre. In Norwegian only.