Press reviews
The audience's tremendous premiere applause has barely faded away when we receive the first enthusiastic reviews, which of course makes us very happy:
nachtkritik.de
There is room for utopias in times of full coffers and when global crises are taking place somewhere deep in the East or South – but please not right on our doorstep [...] That is why we are not currently dreaming of a free and equal society [...] Only a village in the western Ruhr region, populated by indomitable theater makers, continues to dream of another world:
The Theater an der Ruhr in Mülheim has discovered a magnificent play for this purpose – “Das eingebildete Tier” (The Imaginary Animal) by Valère Novarina.... Ten performers fall, slide, or climb onto the stage through a supply or birth canal equipped with a stepladder and play with language in such a way that it is pure delight [...] Julie Grothgar's production triggers something astonishing: a mood of change. The possibility of another world suddenly becomes concrete [...] In any case, the wonderful ensemble also speaks and sings in many voices “against the darkness” and, after 100 highly entertaining minutes, is met with huge cheers.
From the "night review" by Max Florian Kühlem
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
"[...] And how these 10 actors dance on this premiere night! They give themselves completely to Novarina's powerful text, falling over it and over each other [...] At the end, one of the blue creatures asks if it may quote the beginning of his novel. What follows is a grandiose monologue of endless, Dadaist new beginnings [...]"
To the article by Helene Röhnsch
Die deutsche Bühne
The Theater an der Ruhr shines with the German-language premiere of Valère Novarina's “Das eingebildete Tier” (The Imaginary Animal). Both the play and the production delight with their linguistic wit, stage presence, and well-thought-out entertainment [...] Without any lulls, without any let-up in the intensity and energy of the performance. We devour the “memory soup” that Novarina has served us, half jokingly, half seriously, with devotion and relish.
To the review by Martin Krumbholz
Deutschlandfunk
“They juggle, balance, and dance with words masterfully.”
To the radio report by Dorothea Marcus
WAZ
[...] The ensemble (directed by Julie Grothgar) performs with gusto and masterfully recites texts that make no sense and are therefore difficult to remember. The lively interaction between the characters makes you forget that there is actually no plot. [...]
Charlotte Sprenger calls on us to look at death (or another kind of ending) instead of repressing it. What could be good about something ending? Couldn't something innocent, something new, emerge?
As different as the approaches of the two productions are, each finds its fans and receives plenty of applause on opening night.
To the article by Andrea Müller