The gorillas
The gorillas are an improvisational theater - Ensemble from Berlin . The ensemble was founded in 1997 and consists of 15 people (twelve actors and three musicians). All twelve founding members are still active in the ensemble, three young artists have been accepted since 2008. In addition to several regular weekly play dates, Die Gorillas run an improvisation school, organize an international festival for improvisational theater every year, work as coaches in companies and perform at company parties and events.
history
The Berlin improvisation theater die Gorillas (then still Gorilla Theater) was founded by Thomas Chemnitz , Leon Düvel , Regina Fabian , Tom Jahn , Christoph Jungmann , Ramona Krönke , Robert Munzinger , Norbert Riechmann and Michael Wolf. The name Gorillas goes back to the improvisational form Gorilla Theater by theater sport inventor Keith Johnstone , originally played exclusively by the ensemble , in which one of the actors accompanies the event as a director.
The first public performance took place in May 1997 in the Kreuzberg Ratibor Theater, which is still the headquarters of the ensemble today. The founding members were initially all members of the Theatersport Berlin ensemble (the groups have now been separated). In the course of the first two years, Billa Christe , Barbara Klehr and Rudy Redl joined the gorillas. The gorillas played in this ensemble formation (with a constantly changing line-up during the performances) until 2008. From this year the gimmicks formed the gorillas' junior group for about two years. Björn Harras , Felix Raffel and Luise Schnittert still belong to the ensemble today .
Members
Thomas Chemnitz, Billa Christe, Leon Düvel, Regina Fabian, Björn Harras, Tom Jahn, Christoph Jungmann, Barbara Klehr, Ramona Krönke, Robert Munzinger, Felix Raffel, Rudy Redl, Norbert Riechmann, Luise Schnittert, Michael Wolf
Performances
Over the years, Die Gorillas have developed numerous full-length show formats and now present new developments every autumn that are based on the principles of improvisational theater. The participation of the audience in the performance plays a central role. The interaction ranges from soliciting a single suggestion as inspiration for the show to the active involvement of viewers on stage, which is always voluntary and limited in time. The productions include both performances with mainly short, entertaining scenes in scenarios with a strong show character as well as more classic, theatrical formats in which the ensemble develops longer stories from the moment.
Current productions
- Cucumber or banana
- The big 7
- Ick & Berlin
- 4 walls
- The gorillas in the spin cycle
- Good choice
- End of story, nothing to add
- Barbara's bar
Performance locations
The gorillas have been playing in the Ratibor Theater since they were founded. In the years 1999–2015 they made regular guest appearances on Tuesdays at the Schlot Jazz Club (1999–2000 Kastanienallee / Prenzlauer Berg, from 2000 Schlegelstraße / Mitte). The gorillas now play three to five times a week in their Kreuzberg headquarters, the Ratibor Theater. They can also be seen regularly on various stages in the city, including the Volksbühne's Green Salon , the Neukölln home port and the Potsdam wash house once a month . As part of the international gorillas festival, the English Theater Berlin | IPAC and the Mehringhoftheater.
Every year around 25,000 spectators attend the performances of the gorillas.
Improv school
In the improvisation school, members of the gorillas' ensemble and selected guest teachers have been teaching the basics of improvisational theater for interested amateurs and theater professionals since 1998. The school reaches both young people and adults from a wide variety of professions. The ongoing courses take place in the mornings and evenings and range from an increasing level system from trial weekends to further training for experienced improvisation players. In addition to being used on stage, the courses are also designed to improve the communication skills as well as the flexibility and creativity of the participants. The courses are mainly offered in German, but also partly in English and are mostly held in the rooms of the drama school Die Etage in Kreuzberg.
Business theater
The ensemble also uses the immediacy and structural openness of improvisational theater in contexts that are more themed, such as are often found in companies with specific working environments. In appearances at z. B. Conferences or company celebrations can be specifically incorporated into the performances using the techniques of improvisational theater, topics and content of the event or the company. In addition, managers and employees can learn to use the methods of improvisational theater in training courses. In this area of application, the gorillas primarily impart tools for better communication as well as flexibility and willingness to cooperate.
IMPRO Festival
Every year in March, the gorillas organize a ten-day international festival for improvisational theater, the "IMPRO". The interest in international exchange and the further development of the genre justified the start of this series of events in 2001. Around 20-25 artists from all over the world are invited to Berlin to each festival and play together with the host ensemble in around 30 shows on various stages the city. The festival offers space for joint creation at the moment across national and language borders. The philosophy of improvisational theater, in which the acceptance of the other is anchored as the basis of joint artistic work, promotes intercultural understanding within the festival. This takes place not only between the artists, but also with the audience through the interactive design of the scenes and stories.
International Exchange
The gorillas themselves are regularly invited to national and international festivals, so they have been to Valongo (Portugal), Seattle (USA), Vienna (Austria), Winterthur (Switzerland), Victoria (Canada), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Tczew ( Poland), Brussels (Belgium), Oslo (Norway), Saint Petersburg (Russia), Chicago (USA), Toronto (Canada), Graz (Austria), Sarnen (Switzerland), St. Gallen (Switzerland), Prague (Czech Republic) , Strasbourg (France), Milan (Italy).
Long-term cooperation exists with many international ensembles and impro-players, u. a. the Crumbs (Winnipeg), Randy Dixon (Seattle) and the Theater im Bahnhof (Graz).
As part of the Grundtvig Lifelong Learning Program, the gorillas cooperated with theater groups from the Netherlands, France and Sweden in 2011 for the socio-cultural project “Philtre”.
From 2013 to 2015 the Gorillas produced the improvisation-based episode film "Should I stay or should I go?" As a project organizer together with four other European theaters. The project was carried out with funds from the European Commission.
Other Projects
- TuSch (theater and school)
- Such a theater
- Commemoration event on the occasion of 70 years of "Reichspogromnacht" November 9, 1938 in the Bavarian Quarter in cooperation with the Schöneberg Art Office (November 2008)
- Organizer of the German championship for improv theater 2009
- Co-organizing the Theater Sports World Cup as part of the federal government's arts and culture program for the 2006 FIFA World Cup
- JuST (young people with one parent suffering from cancer play theater)
- Improvised radio series on Kulturradio
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.visitberlin.de/de/ort/die-gorillas-improvisationstheater-berlin
- ↑ http://www.ratibortheater.de/ueber-uns
- ↑ http://www.zitty.de/geschichten-aus-dem-nichts/
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from July 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ https://www.sein.de/die-schoenheit-des-ungewissen/
- ↑ http://www.visitberlin.de/de/ort/die-gorillas-improvisationstheater-berlin
- ↑ http://www.feuilletonscout.com/tipp-impro-theater-vom-feinsten-die-gorillas/
- ↑ http://www.feuilletonscout.com/ein-moment-mit-leon-duevel-von-den-gorillas/
- ↑ http://www.feuilletonscout.com/tipp-impro-theater-vom-feinsten-die-gorillas/
- ↑ http://www.trottoir-online.de/Berlin---Impro--Festival-IMPRO-2014-2850.html
- ↑ http://www.aktuelle-veranstaltungen.at/4-internationales-impro-theater-festival-in-wien-moment-die-ruckkehr-der-spielmachtigen-tag-in-wien/
- ↑ http://musikfestwochen.ch/infos/history/#slide184
- ↑ http://www.aboutus.com/PulvErFestival.com
- ↑ http://teatr-05.livejournal.com
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated August 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.saiten.ch/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/SAITEN-04-2013-PRINT-Kopie.pdf
- ↑ http://zpatra.cz
- ↑ http://www.teatribu.it/milano/chi-siamo/impro-in-italia
- ↑ http://www.badische-zeitung.de/muellheim/alles-ist-improvisiert--113489349.html
- ↑ http://www.tusch-berlin.de/inklusive-theaterarbeit/
- ↑ http://www.immanuel.de/aktuelles/nachrichten/aktuelle-nachrichten/detail/article/mitten-aus-dem-leben/
- ↑ http://www.visitberlin.de/de/ort/die-gorillas-improvisationstheater-berlin
- ↑ Impro-Theater boss Ramona Krönke takes care of asylum seekers in Wandlitz, as of April 2014. Accessed on August 20, 2018 .
