Cabaret artist and actor Robert Palfrader has written a novel. He explains to the “press” how this came about – and why he tells about the adventures of his Ladin ancestors.
It’s a late Friday afternoon in the Rabenhof, and Robert Palfrader keeps yawning. He apologizes that he’s not bored, just extremely tired. It’s a bit busy right now. He’s rehearsing at the Volksoper, filming the second season of a series for an international streamer, something for ARD, and here at the Rabenhof the State Artists are still on the program that evening.
The fact that Palfrader also has to squeeze in interviews about his debut novel is due to the fact that things sometimes look completely different. Last year, for example. Then, he says, he suddenly had time, even though he had signed eight so-called letters of intent. At least three or four of the eight big productions would probably be realized, he thought, “and then nothing came of it because everyone in Germany let down the roll bars and nobody invested in film.” So he used the time to write.
The seed for this was laid 30 years ago by an encounter in Cologne. When we sat together after work we talked about each other’s origins and also wanted to hear about that of the “Ösis” in the group. Whereupon Palfrader explained that he was actually half Italian and talked about his South Tyrolean family history. “At one point a screenwriter said I had to write it down. But I didn’t think I had the talent or that anyone would care, and I buried it deep in my head.”
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