Berlin
Volksbühne says goodbye to late director Pollesch
The Berliner Volksbühne says goodbye to René Pollesch. photo
© Sebastian Christoph Gollnow/dpa
René Pollesch died unexpectedly at the end of February. The theater wants to say goodbye to him on stage. Before that there is a kind of competition – with a DJ and expressive dances.
The memorial service for the deceased director is a kind of colorful competition René Pollesch opened at the Berlin Volksbühne. On Thursday, participants walked on a catwalk in the star foyer of the theater for a ballroom under the motto “Give Me Life: The Free Agent Kiki Ball”. In the competition, they competed in various categories such as dance to DJ music. Ballroom culture is a movement from the queer scene established in New York.
At the memorial service entitled “Throw away your ego and celebrate what you love – For René” on Thursday evening, Pollesch was to say goodbye on stage with the ensemble and guests. The director died suddenly at the end of February at the age of 61.
Visitor: “René was a nice, attentive person”
25-year-old Jana from Graz, Austria, who used to be part of the Volksbühne youth theater, also came to the sold-out event. “For me, the Volksbühne is my home. René was a very kind, attentive person who somehow had feelers everywhere,” she said. People laid flowers in front of the theater, and a banner with the words “Celebrate what you love” commemorated the commemoration.
The playwright and director Pollesch, who was born in Friedberg, Hesse in 1962, returned to the theater as director in 2021. He knew the Berliner Volksbühne like no one else when he took over the management of the house. After a quarter of a century with director Frank Castorf, there was a lot of protest against the Belgian Chris Dercon as his successor, who soon gave up his post. After an interim solution with Klaus Dörr, Pollesch took over. Pollesch had already been at the Volksbühne under Castorf many years before.