Voices in the head

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Musical dates
Title: Voices in the head
Original language: German
Music: Wolfgang Böhmer
Lyrics: Peter Lund
Premiere: 21st March 2013
Place of premiere: Berlin, Neukölln Opera
Place and time of the action: Berlin , today

Voices in the head is a musical by Peter Lund (text) and Wolfgang Böhmer (music) and was created as a co-production of the Berlin University of the Arts and the Neukölln Opera . At the suggestion of the social worker Karin Coper, who works in the psychiatric field, and the nurse Götz Strauch (psychiatric department of the St. Hedwig Hospital) , the third year of the musical course at the University of the Arts researched the topic for over a year with a lot of support from doctors, nurses and patients Mental illness . On the basis of various conversations, the actors developed their own characters and stories.

content

Nadine is brought to a Berlin hospital by her sister Babsi because she has not left her apartment for weeks and otherwise shows strange behavior. Nadine is accompanied by Daniel, who protects her and gives her the feeling that nobody can hurt her. But this is exactly where the problem lies: Only she can see and hear Daniel, because Daniel is only in Nadine's head. Yet Daniel has great power over them. Nadine is supposed to stay in the psychiatric ward to find out whether she is at risk of self-harm . Nadine has to share a room with Karla, a banker who initially feels disturbed in her loneliness as a result.

Little by little, Nadine gets to know the other patients and the audience, the other inmates with their sometimes harrowing stories. Philipp, a young obsessive-compulsive neurotic with mathematical talent , but a profound developmental disorder, is a permanent guest here and has apparently spent large parts of his life in this closed department. Nadine gets along with him straight away. Philipp believes in conspiracy theories, is pedantic, often stutters and has a tic : he taps compulsively with his fingers. Then there is a young punk girl with the self-chosen name "Herbert" who wishes she was a man. After a messed up childhood and abuse by her alcoholic father, Herbert got on the wrong track and has lost all trust in other people, whose promises she no longer believes. Herbert mostly shows an aggressive behavior, likes to bring chaos into the order created by Philipp, tossing the accurately placed chairs through the ward and repeatedly breaking out of the closed department, because Herbert actually lives on the street with her dog . Ms. Dermicin, who comes from Russia, is less frightening due to her aggressive behavior and more scary due to her ghostly appearance. The only verbal statement she gives in all situations is: "I can do it" . Staff and patients seem to her but not be trusted, that they anything at all make can, except in infinite slowness expressionless entlangzuwandeln the station corridors.

Just as Nadine has made acquaintance with the other patients and has acclimatized to the ward, her fiancé Lars is already standing on the mat - a snooty law student, braggart and busybody who she already knew from Erlangen at the beginning of their studies together - and tried them to get back from Berlin. Lars was not enthusiastic about Nadine's Berlin idea from the start and sees this as the trigger for her disorder, because he believes: “We are from Erlangen and absolutely normal.” For him, the other patients are just “crazy” and, in his opinion, offer none suitable environment for Nadine. But Nadine definitely doesn't want to go back because she “doesn't want to go to Erlangen” . As for Philipp (for whom the closed one has become a kind of home) and Herbert (who has been living on the street for years) , the patients all seem to have come to the conclusion in some way: “There is no more at home ! "

A ray of hope for the patients in this unreal environment is the universally popular ward nurse Eva, whose work most patients seem to respect because she does it not just with routine professionalism, but also with a certain amount of warmth. However, that is exactly what becomes Sister Eva's problem. The young woman, who obviously suffers from a pronounced helper syndrome , often does more than just her job; she has very personal conversations with the patients and tries to show them understanding. Because she “likes to poke around in the psyche as a hobby” she receives from her boss and lover Dr. Thomsen issues a warning and is reminded that the sick are patients and not friends . The only therapeutic achievement that Sister Eva is really allowed to provide independently and that can also be seen as the most important attempt to heal the patient is the daily morning session , during which the patients who come together in the chair circle practice honesty and openness and about balancing give and take To develop trust in the “healing power of the community” . By singing the song We are a community together , the feeling of community is strengthened in the piece, and during the therapies all decisions of the other participants (regardless of whether they are taking or giving character) are made by speaking the praise “that makes the ... well “ recognized.

Sister Eva is supported in her work by BuFDI Hannes, who, as an avowed Christian who likes to play music, not only sings songs to Jenny to fall asleep to, but also improvises music therapy when the actual therapist has failed again. Hannes obviously enjoys this work, because “these Catholics all love to sing” . Everyone on the ward seems to like to sing, and so not only the anamnesis of newcomers always offers the opportunity for a musical performance, but especially the daily visit by Dr. Thomsen. Although he claims that “knowledge of human nature is my job” and thinks that “despite his career he has always remained human” , he only treats the patients purely with medication. Nevertheless, the medication distributed during the rounds does its job, because even if the night was "cloudy, black and full of worries" , thanks to Dr. Thomsen's special therapy every morning anew all depression. It is only understandable that the ward doctor himself likes to approve a “pill” himself and distribute it generously among his colleagues, because: A little Valium , and “the dear soul is at peace” .

For some patients, neither the therapy offered in the chair circle nor the drug treatment seem to be sufficient, and so they keep looking for their own spiritual health. After Philipp and Herbert smoked the weed that was smuggled onto the ward , he was given a boost because Philipp was actually on rehab. This also has dire consequences for Herbert, because the medical officer, Dr. Stroessner called on the scene and threatened Herbert, as a punishment for her drug smuggling, with having her dog euthanized and locking her up forever in the closed ward. Herbert knows that there is no longer any point in life for her if the medical officer realizes her threat. To make matters worse, the ward party escalates and brings further setbacks for the patients ...

The play ends with a scene in which Nadine convinces Philipp, who is completely frightened by what has happened, to take the step out of the hospital and the two decide to try a life together.

premiere

Voices in the head was written especially for graduates of the Berlin University of the Arts , at which author and director Peter Lund is a professor. The musical, which the author of the piece himself describes as music therapy , had its world premiere on March 21, 2013 in the Neuköllner Oper, Berlin. There has been a successful cooperation between the UdK and the Neukölln Opera for a long time.

Ensemble of the first season (Berlin-Cast)

March 21 to April 28, 2013

occupation

  • Musical direction: Hans-Peter Kirchberg / Tobias Bartholmeß
  • Choreography: Neva Howard
  • Director: Peter Lund
  • Production management / assistant director: Carola Söllner
  • Stage design: Ulrike Reinhard
  • Costumes: Anna Hostert
  • Video animation: René von der Waar

actor

  • Maria-Danaé Bansen (Karla)
  • Johannes Brüssau (Lars, Nadine's fiancé)
  • Patrik Cieslik (Philipp)
  • Dennis Dobrowolski (Daniel)
  • Christian Funk (Dr. Stefan Thomsen, ward doctor)
  • Yvonne Greitzke (Eva, ward nurse)
  • Venera Jakupov (Ms. Dermicin / Ms. Dr. Stroessner)
  • Christian Miebach ' (Hannes, the BuFDI )
  • Anna Pircher (Jenny)
  • Larissa Puhlmann (Babsi, Nadine's sister)
  • Ira Theofanidis (Nadine)
  • Marion Wulf (Herbert)

orchestra

  • Guitar I: Johannes Gehlmann / Michael Brandt
  • Guitar II: Hossein Yacery Manesh
  • Bass: Carsten Schmelzer / Martin Lillich
  • Drums / percussion: Kai Schoenburg / Michael Joch
  • Keyboards / Synthesizers: Simon Steger
  • Piano: Hans-Peter Kirchberg / Tobias Bartholmeß

List of songs (selection)

  • Welcome to the club
  • Voices in the head
  • None
  • The interview / Hey you
  • visit
  • With feeling
  • I just watch
  • The joint
  • The medical officer
  • At home
  • poor little sister
  • Dopamine ballet
  • dancing lesson
  • Don't promise me anything
  • Ill
  • Is that me
  • Lullaby
  • Injustice tango

Press reviews

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Press kit of the Neuköllner Oper (accessed: March 21, 2013) ( Memento of the original from April 18, 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. (PDF; 1.6 MB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.neukoellneroper.de
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Visit to the world premiere STIMMEN IM KOPF March 21, 2013 in the Neukölln Opera. (No longer available online.) Musical & Co, March 22, 2013, archived from the original on November 20, 2013 ; accessed on March 27, 2013 . 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musical-co.net

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