In a society that is increasingly shutting itself off from new ways of thinking and aesthetic transgressions, says Frank Castorf, theatre is the last partisan. As a director and artistic director, Castorf has made the Berlin Volksbühne such a place of departure and avant-garde since the early 1990s. With its radical reaction to social upheavals and the testing of new means of theatre, the Volksbühne has become Germany’s most important theatre with great international appeal. The film accompanies Castorf in his farewell production at the Volksbühne, the “Faust”, and at the same time takes a look at the machine room of this theatre factory. Comrades-in-arms such as Sophie Rois, Herbert Fritsch and Alexander Scheer talk about the special working relationships at this theatre, while News Flashbacks bring back to life the special moments of the past 25 years. “Partisan” is a homage to a theatre and its team that is now a thing of the past, but will continue to have an impact for a long time to come as a powerful example of aesthetic stubbornness.
With: Alexander Scheer, Sophie Rois, Henry Hübchen, Christiane Schober / Soufleuse, Martin Wuttke, Frank Meißner & Andreas Speichert / Bühnenmeister, Herbert Fritsch, Marc Hosemann, Hendrik Arnst, Kathrin Angerer, Lilith Stangenberg, Frank Castorf
Trailer PARTISAN from solo:film on Vimeo.
