It’s always nice when theater raises one question or another. In René Pollesch’s latest production at the Berlin Volksbühne one asks oneself a bit perplexed as to why he has a problem with Frank Castorf, his predecessor as the Volksbühne director. Pollesch’s production of “Fantômas” seems like a single, quite successful parody of the aesthetics and themes of the Castorf Theater, including the somewhat laborious extra length. At just under three hours, the evening lasts twice as long as the usual, crisp 80 minutes of a successful Pollesch show. And Castorf’s favorite stylistic device is also used extensively: the actors’ faces, filmed in close-up with a slightly hysterical camera, delirious and race on the edge of madness. To ensure that nothing goes wrong in terms of film aesthetics and that the copy remains close to the original, Pollesch simply hired Castorf’s proven life video artist Jan Speckenbach. If it’s a pirated copy, then with good people.
“Fantômas” – the new play by René Pollesch at the Volksbühne Berlin – Culture
