A true story: Rosemary Brown, widow and mother of two, lives in a town house in Balham, South London. In November 1964 the ghost of Franz Liszt visits her and asks her if he could dictate a couple of compositions to her which he could not finish in his lifetime. Brown who does not have a musical education, agrees. Shortly after this incident, Johann Sebastian Bach comes to her with the same wish – and immediately after this there are Johannes Brahms, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Edvard Grieg, Claude Debussy, Robert Schumann, Ludwig van Beethoven – joined later by John Lennon and Albert Einstein. In the following years Brown gets up at half past six every morning, has breakfast and then receives deceased composers for a musical dictation between eight and two and between three and six o’clock. These sessions create among other works a forty pages long sonata and twelve Lieder by Schubert, a fantasie impromptu by Chopin and two sonatas as well as the tenth and eleventh symphonies by Beethoven. Rosemary Brown herself dies in London in 2001. Swiss director and musician Thom Luz uses Brown’s scores as a starting point for a cheerful evening with ghosts for three musicians, one actor and one actress.
Thom Luz is one of the most exciting directors in German-speaking theatre today, voted as "best emerging theatre director" by the theatre magazine Theater Heute in 2014. Luz started out as an actor but has been working as a director since 2007. His work includes "Die Leiden des jungen Werther" by Goethe at Theater Basel, "Archiv des Unvollstaendigen" by Laura de Weck at Staatstheater Oldenburg / Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen (invitation to the Muehlheimer Theatertagen and Heidelberger Stueckemarkt) and "Atlas der abgelegenen Inseln" by Judith Schalansky at Staatstheater Hannover (invitation to the Berliner Theatertreffen 2015).
Director: Conception, Stage Design: Thom Luz
On stage: Jack McNeill Daniele Pintaudi, Suly Röthlisberger, Samuel Streiff, Mathias Weibel
Musical Director : Mathias Weibel
Dramaturgy : Marcus Dross
Costume and Light design : Tina Bleuler
Sound : Martin Hofstetter
Production and Tourmanagement : Gabi Bernetta
Production: Thom Luz
A Coproduction with Gessnerallee Zürich; Spielart Festival München; Kaserne Basel; Theater Chur; Südpol Luzern
With the support of: Canton of Zurich, Zurich Ville de Culture, Pro Helvetia – Swiss arts, Migros-Kulturprozent, Fondation Ernst Göhner, Fondation Georges et Jenny Bloch
When : Wednesday, August 26, 21:00 & Thursday, August 27, 21:00
Where : Gamla bíó, Ingólfstræti 2a, Reykjavík
Duration : 1 hour 15 minuets
Ticket price : 2.900 iskr. Buy tickets here
Performed in English
Presented by LÓKAL and Reykjavík Dance Festival
WHEN I DIE
Eftirfarandi saga er sönn: Rosemary Brown var ekkja og tveggja barna móðir, búsett í suðurhluta Lundúna. Í nóvember árið 1964 sótti vofa tónskáldsins Franz Liszt hana heim og spurði hvort hún gæti ekki sett niður á blað fáeinar tónsmíðar sem honum hafði ekki auðnast að ljúka við í lifanda lífi? Frú Brown – sem að vísu var ekki tónlistarmenntuð – brást ljúflega við beiðni hans. Skömmu síðar birtist Johann Sebastian Bach með samskonar beiðni sem frú Brown gat einnig orðið við – og í kjölfarið birtust þeir Johannes Brahms, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Edward Grieg, Claude Debussy, Robert Schumann og Ludwig van Beethoven (John Lennon og Albert Einstein létu líka á sér kræla). Næstu árin fór frú Brown á fætur klukkan hálfsjö á hverjum morgni, borðaði morgunverð og tók á móti látnum tónskáldum frá átta til tvö og síðdegis frá klukkan þrjú til sex. Með þessum hætti auðgaðist heimurinn meðal annars um fjörutíu síðna sónötu og tólf sönglög eftir Schubert, fantasíu eftir Chopin, tvær sónötur eftir Beethoven auk þess sem Rosemary landaði tíundu og elleftu symfóníu tónskáldsins!
Í þessari undursamlegu og bráðfyndnu leiksýningu dustar svissneski leikstjórinn og tónlistarmaðurinn Thom Luz rykið af nótunum sem frú Brown lét eftir sig. Útkoman er skemmtikvöld með afturgöngum, þremur tónlistarmönnum, leikara og leikkonu. Frábær sýning eftir einn eftirtektarverðasta sviðshöfund í þýskumælandi leikhúsi samtímans!