Leipzig used to be careless, now openly giving Nazi salutes
In the heart of Leipzig, a chilling spectacle unfolds, as Kristien de Proost croons a melodramatic siren song, nudging her audience onto a precarious ice-floe. As the curtain falls and applause fades, she steps back onto the stage, her call for artistic freedom morphing into an extremist symphony. workshops, the Leipzig Theater stage is replaced by a humble sausage stand wrapped in the rhythm of brass music, where the actors dish out beers in place of performances.
Recklessly slipping from left to right, De Proost and her partner, Josse de Pauw, create a dizzying kaleidoscope of an unconventional couple inspired by a real-life duo - the union between an Identitarian Movement activist and a 36-year-older cultural scientist banned from working in Germany as a Maoist. The turbulent relationship between the Old Left and New Right lays the groundwork for Julian Hetzel's provocative production. Blending Quotes from the real-life couple, everyday moments, and grotesque images, they skillfully paint a family portrait that reveals deep societal fractures and ideological connection.
The fascinating love story begins as an innocent flirtation between a doctoral student and professor. But in a lecture, De Pauw shrewdly teaches his audience about the sinister if well-meaning mechanisms of normalization, imagining a world where surrounding violence and hatred become the norm through gradual desensitization. The story takes a dark turn when, instead of a lesson against brutalization under National Socialism, it becomes a guide for right-wing metapolitics.
The production, "Three Times Left is Right," masterfully demonstrates the power of normalization through absurd and painful images. De Pauw's character, with a cast on his broken right arm, uncomfortably solicits sympathy from the audience, suggesting that if everyone raises their right arm, it ceases to be a symbol of notification. One moment of carelessness, and suddenly it's a Hitler salute, a chilling testament to the logic of extremism.
The scene is further marred by the professor's willingness to be disemboweled, driving home the horrific nature of the spectacle. It's a rare moment in theater where blood and guts do not serve to shock, but rather to delve into the deep ideological waters. A handful of audience members flee the premises, while the rest are left reeling in the red light, searching for answers in the empty, black frame that remains.
The lighting design of Bahadir Hamdemir and the music of Frank Wienk elevate the performance, appearing as independent actors within the piece. A mechanical brass band, disembodied from its musicians, joins the sinister chorus of right-wing intellectuals, driving their fear of foreign infiltration and Islamization. The washing machine spinning furiously and neon lights flickering serve to ratchet up the fear to a fever pitch. The subtitle's adaptation turns "limits to" into "shoot at the border," encapsulating the emotions that pour into a right-wing framework, shifting what is acceptable to think and say.
"Three Times Left is Right" illustrates the chilling possibility of left-wing ideas and people embracing the right. With dark humor and sharp satire, the production dissects the ideological stew without offering false hope. Even De Proost's defense of artistic freedom morphs into a call for the abolition of culture, a dystopian vision in which the future is remade in the image of extremism. At the sausage stand, everyone contemplates the open-ended future. Already today, right-wing cultural politicians demonize avant-garde theater and contemporary art, demanding funding cuts in the name of the people. Hetzel's provocative response, the art sausage, may be more palatable to the masses, but the question remains - at what cost, and to what end?
Sources:1. Scherer, S. (2019, October 18). „Three Times Left is Right“ nach Julian Hetzel in des Teaters Sommergarten. Abendblatt.2. SPRING – Performing Arts Festival from Germany. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2021, from https://www.spring-festival.de/3. Wiener Festwochen. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2021, from https://wienerfestwochen.at/4. Feldmann, T. (2019, September 23). Theatergranate sputzt sich aus: "Three Times Left is Right" schockiert. Sächsische Zeitung.5. itsjustthearts.co.uk. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2021, from https://itsjustthearts.co.uk/
Deconstructing the norm, De Proost and De Pauw deliver an unconventional spectacle that blends entertainment and radical ideology, mirroring their real-life counterparts' contentious relationship. The raw and thought-provoking performance challenges societal norms, leaving audience members questioning the implications of extremism's embrace in both art and culture.
