Hear Me Roar Festival 2017
Inspired by two exceptional Austrian authors, Ingeborg Bachmann and Elfriede Jelinek (the latter awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2004), this English- language premiere is a solo performance by internationally acclaimed actress Maxi Blaha with a musical score composed and performed by pianist Simon Raab. Based on Ingeborg Bachmann’s autobiographically inspired novel Malina and Elfriede Jelinek’s ‘princess dramas’ (The Wall), this scenic double portrait deals with parallels in the work of the two authors, such as the concern with the image of woman in society, dependencies and power relations, fashion, sexuality and invisibility. The musical-theatrical staging by director Martina Gredler shows these analogies in the writing of these women writers who have excelled in a male-dominated field but as outsiders in their careers. Bachmann’s and Jelinek’s texts are interwoven into an extraordinary monologue for Maxi Blaha’s solo performance, with dramaturgy provided by Verena Humer.
The original play Es gibt mich nur im Spiegelbild (in German language) was translated into English by Jelinek interpreter Penny Black.
The production is subsidised by the Austrian Federal Chancellery and is being supported financially by the Austrian Cultural Forum in London.
The performance is followed by a Q&A post-show discussion with the performers facilitated by Karen Jürs-Munby and Allyson Fiddler.
Solo performance and concept: Maxi Blaha
Composer/Pianist: Simon Raab
Direction: Martina Gredler
Dramaturgy: Verena Humer
(All rights: Rowohlt Verlag GmbH, Reinbek und Piper Verlag GmbH, München)
