Paula Irmschler presented her debut novel in 2020 with the coming-of-age story of a young woman. Two years later, the Chemnitz Theater brought the pop drama “Superbusen” to the stage.
Chemnitz in late summer 2018: After the violent death of a man, massive riots by right-wing extremists keep the city in suspense.
A whole big city was agitated and unsettled in those days – just like Gisela, the main character in Paula Irmschler’s novel “Superbusen”, who slipped into the demo events after her return from Berlin. On Saturday, the story celebrated its debut on the theater stage as a pop drama. Director Kathrin Brune stages the late coming-of-age story of a young woman as a scenic-musical road trip, with live music provided by a specially assembled “Superbusen” band.
Irmschler, born in Dresden in 1989 and editor of the satirical magazine “Titanic”, attracted a lot of attention with her debut novel in 2020. The “Spiegel” had spoken of the “pop book of the hour”, of an “Antifa novel from Chemnitz” that puts you in an incredibly good mood. According to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, Irmschler has his finger on the pulse of the present. She tells “about everyday life with the Nazis in the East, the weapon of irony – and the power of music,” wrote the “taz”.
Goosebump moments and humor
In Brune’s production, Gisela is cast three times: by two women (Magda Decker and Andrea Zwicky) and a man (Clemens Kersten). A dramaturgical trick that works and also ensures cheerfulness. The appropriate music is provided by the live band of Jenny Kretzschmar, Kati Hollstein and Heidi Enderlein, who play songs by Blur, Tocotronic and Nirvana as well as Echt and Britney Spears. The result is a powerful evening of theater that delivers goosebump moments, but does not skimp on humor and self-mockery.
The premiere was part of a series of premieres at the Chemnitz Theater, with which the theater and puppet theater opened their interim venue. For two years they will present themselves to the public in a former factory for spinning machines that has been prepared for this purpose, because the traditional theater is being upgraded for around five million euros. General director Christoph Dittrich calls the new quarter a “stroke of luck”. He is certain that the “Spinnbau” will continue to be an enrichment for the city. “I would be surprised if such a location would lie fallow in the upcoming cultural capital Chemnitz,” emphasized Dittrich.
(dpa)