My life to myself
My life to myself is an intercultural play based on a concept by Emel Heinreich . The project on the subject of the suppression of women in different cultures, which premiered on November 15, 2007 in Vienna under Heinreich's direction, attracted media attention and was featured in the Tyrolean folk theater program in 2008
My life to myself is a project of the Viennese association Cocon and the youth and culture house VZA. In addition to three professional actresses, mainly lay people took part.
content
The twelve-year-old Dilan is to be married to her cousin Ali, according to the father's wishes. When her mother brings her this news, the young girl suddenly sees the end of her childhood and is shocked. At Hennabend, a traditional farewell to the bride entering a new family, Dilan is prepared for the wedding by relatives and friends. This is an occasion for women to remember their own weddings and to reflect on the further course of their lives from then on. Embedded in this framework, the play tells stories of the oppression of women from different cultures, from Turkey to Afghanistan to China, in a humorous and critical way, sometimes also sadly.
The ensemble that represents the piece consists of mostly Austrian-born girls and women of various origins. In the opinion of the editor Werner Hörtner, this gives the play a two-sided integrative level: the performers of the play would “become aware of the fatal consequences of repressive patriarchal structures when working out their roles, and gain independence and self-confidence. And the audience, mostly of migrant origin themselves, begin to think self-critically, to question cemented behaviors, to break cultural constraints. ” Hubert Kramar goes even further in his reference: My life is“ an impressive example of an excellently crafted piece People who live in Vienna from a different culture. And who use this theater production to communicate about their lives and their problems in a very moving way. The cross-fertilization through such work is of great importance for the survival of a society ”.
Performance history
My life was first performed by myself , albeit accompanied by media reports, as a free amateur theater in the Brunnen-Passage on Vienna's Yppenplatz.
On November 17, 2007, the well-known Austrian writer Felix Mitterer saw one of the performances of the play there, whereupon he invited the playgroup to the Tyrolean Volksschauspiele 2008 with the performance. In 2008 my life was represented there on three evenings (August 19-21).
Previously there had been performances in Hubert Kramar's 3-room anatomy theater on June 25th, 27th and 28th .
Project wedding
The play is a continuation of Emel Heinreich's regionally highly regarded theater project forced marriage the year before. This and My Life Myself are the existing parts of an experimental theater work called Wedding (in collaboration with Asli Kislal), which was set up as a superordinate project and which was later funded by the City of Vienna and which received a special mention at the 2007 Intercultural Award in Linz . The first part took up the problem of archaic patriarchal social systems. Documents from the UN organization UNFPA served as the basis for the development
Media coverage
Brigitte Suchan from the Wiener Zeitung saw a report on the premiere of the play as a “committed theater project”.
For the Tyrolean daily newspaper Mein Leben addressed “culture-specific normalities” such as “forced marriage, lotus feet, oppression”. In a preliminary report on the Tyrolean Festival, the piece had already been named as the most outstanding of the “small but fine” (Wechselberger) supporting program. The reviewer, who finally emphasized the amateur ensemble's enthusiasm for playing, saw in him “thoughtful and sad” stories.
Evelyn Blumenau from "kulturwoche.at" judged the premiere performances in 2007 on the difficult topic as "peppered with weird humor". In her staging, Heinreich “does not remain frozen in suffering. On the contrary, towards the end of the piece she manages to place this demanding and hot topic in the hands of the women, who are finally starting to spin their webs instead of complaining to each other of their suffering or seeing each other as competitors " .
The south wind magazine also saw the effort in the performances "break with the theatrical means the boundaries of cultural constraints, self-critical thinking, questioning by religions and traditions cemented behaviors."
The ORF television program “Fremde Heimat” and ORF radio also devoted extensive reports to the piece, emphasizing the search for “male allies” in the fight against the oppression of women as an important statement. Heinreich wants to "shake people up, stimulate thought and dispel prejudices"
Single receipts
- ↑ http://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/kultur/buehne/91930_Gewalt-und-Unterdrueckung-Wenn-Frauen-erzaehlen.html
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 3, 2013 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.
- ↑ http://www.volksschauspiele.at/files/spielplan2008_n1.pdf ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.cocon-kultur.com/typo3/projekte/mein-leben-mir-selbst/resonanz-zu-mlms/werner-hoertner/
- ↑ http://www.cocon-kultur.com/typo3/projekte/mein-leben-mir-selbst/resonanz-zu-mlms/hubert-kramar/
- ^ Ö1 Leporello , broadcast on November 15, 2007, ORF / OE1
- ^ Wiener Zeitung : Violence and Oppression: When Women Tell , November 16, 2007 (accessed November 25, 2013)
- ↑ http://www.experimentaltheater.com/uploads/media/Kritik_derStandard_Hochzeit03-07.jpg ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. "The standard of March 19, 2006 wedding"
- ↑ http://www.experimentaltheater.com/uploads/media/vienna_review04-07.jpg ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. "Vienna Review of the Wedding Project"
- ↑ http://volksgruppen.orf.at/programm/stories/81268/ ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Meryem Çitak in Heimat, a foreign home , broadcast on March 9, 2008, ORF2
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 24, 2009 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.
- ↑ http://www.cocon-kultur.com/typo3/fileadmin/tt_kritik_mlms.pdf
- ↑ http://www.kulturwoche.at/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1311&Itemid=41
- ↑ Südwind - Magazine for International Politics, Culture and Development 06/2008, p. 9
- ↑ Meryem Çitak in Heimat, a foreign home , broadcast on March 9, 2008, ORF2
- ↑ ORF contribution in Moment Leben Today , February 2008.
