Edmund Telgenkamper has been back in the ensemble of the Munich Kammerspiele for two years after an engagement at the Zurich Schauspielhaus. The rehearsals for the play “Scripture I” by Wolfram Lotz. Because the visionary author (“The Politicians”), who since his “Speech on the Impossible Theater” has repeatedly broken all conventions of the theater with anarchic lust, has now presented his most radical text to date, which Falk Richter now presents as walk-in theater installation brings to the stage.
Monday: Weird life experiment
Final rehearsals in the Therese-Giehse-Halle for “Holy Scripture I”. A perhaps 3000-page diary in its original form, which the author wrote for a year in a village in Alsace in a kind of elective exile. A year of seclusion to free oneself from a personal crisis, to find a new approach to reality. A kind of soliloquy with the window open, notes about life, writing and the present. About 900 pages of it are published. If everything goes well, we will take the audience straight into the head of Wolfram Lotz via a walk-in theater installation. Unfortunately, there is often not enough time in the morning for a hearty breakfast. Hopefully there will be a poppy seed roll at my favorite Neulinger bakery in Haidhausen. After that, I ride my bike past the Maxmonument across the Isar to the theater in almost any weather. I love this bike path because it takes me past several of Munich’s favorite places every day, such as Wiener Platz, or the fish ladder and the waterfall on Maximiliansbrücke.
Tuesday: Abyssal Society
An evening against bourgeois fantasies, lies and lazy compromises: Scene from the play “The Leap from the Ivory Tower” at the Kammerspiele.
(Photo: Emma Szabo)
Rehearsal in the morning, in the evening there is a performance of “The Leap from the Ivory Tower” directed by Pinar Karabulut, with texts by Gisela Elsner, who took her own life in Munich in 1992, deeply affected by the collapse of the GDR. In my opinion, a great ensemble evening, crazy and sprawling, with texts by an author that are evil, monstrous, but also very funny at the same time. If my loved ones are watching, we’ll either meet up in the Blue House of the Kammerspiele or we’ll go to the “Brenner” by the opera, where you can also eat late. Alternatively, we can have a cocktail in the Golden Bar in the Haus der Kunst, where you can not only sit inside but also outside, depending on the weather. Not without having watched the surfers on the Eisbach wave for a little while, who still cavort here even at night.
Wednesday: In the country in the city
Looks like a village idyll, but it is in the middle of Haidhausen: The Kriechbaumhof is a building in the style of an alpine farm on Preysingstrasse.
(Photo: Lukas Barth/lukasbarth.com)
First main rehearsal. When and how long we rehearse may vary, but there will definitely be time for lunch. If you don’t cook at home, you might go to the “Zum Kloster” restaurant instead of the canteen for a small bite, also in Haidhausen. You can also sit outside here very nicely. At this height, Preysingstrasse always reminds me of a trip to the country with its small hostels like the Üblacker Häusl or the large wooden Kriechbaumhof. If we get the afternoon or evening off, I might dare a first swim in the Schyrenbad. At least it’s the season again. It’s my favorite outdoor pool in Munich because it has the perfect lanes and is in a very nice location. Around the corner I visit the rose garden, for me one of the most beautiful gardens in Munich, which has grounded me in every emotional and life situation. Or just further to the banks of the Isar, the further south, the better. On and in the water I become a different person. A beer garden would be ideal. One of my favorites, because it’s very relaxed and has a very mixed crowd, is the Flaucher, or there’s the equally beautiful beer garden on Wiener Platz.
Thursday: In the wake of therapy
Series with addictive potential: In the new second season of “In Therapy”, set shortly after the end of the first corona lockdown, Dr. Dayan (Frédéric Pierrot) new patients whose tongues are slowly loosening from the pandemic chaos.
(Photo: Les Films du Poisson)
Second main rehearsal. In the evening I often need a while to wind down. At home also with a series. Unfortunately, I’m a series junkie. I’m currently watching the second season of “En thérapie” in the Arte media library. While the first season dealt with the terrorist attacks in 2015, among other things, it is based in Paris after the first corona lockdown. A therapist looks into the soul of his clients and his own, highly recommended. But of course I could also read. For example, “Die Mühle” by my former student and Munich actress colleague Rena Dumont, which has just been published, is right at the top of my book table.
Friday: coffee oases
Holiday flair in the city center: many details in the “Bar Centrale” help to make you feel like you’re in Italy.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
dress rehearsal. If there is a longer break that day, I could go for a quick coffee in the city. I love the very Italian and extremely nice Bar Centrale around the corner from the theater, or I go to the Viktualienmarkt. In the Munich coffee roastery there is great coffee, which I love to drink on the square behind the roastery with the small fountain and the nice stands. Especially during the first lockdown, this place was always an oasis in closed Munich for me.
Saturday: Strolling before the premiere
Popular bridge for walkers: the cable bridge connects Maxanlagen with the Lukaskirche.
(Photo: Rainer E. Kunert)
Premiere. Usually the day is free until the evening. I’m not able to do much there, but a walk is good, for example to my favorite places in the Maximiliansanlagen, along the Mauersteg to the Kabelsteg, back past the Preysinger Fruchthalle Zervas, where I like to shop and have a chat. Then perhaps a stroll through the quarter with a stop at one of the beautiful squares in the French Quarter. Grab a coffee at Fortuna’s or L’Angolino’s for a bite to eat, then home again.
Sunday: Look into the distance
It’s easy to get there with the Bavarian Regiobahn BRB: Lake Tegernsee is always worth a trip.
(Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa)
Now it’s time to rest. And just be private. For example, travel together to Lake Tegernsee, because it is very uncomplicated from Munich with the Bavarian Regiobahn BRB. Finally out into nature. Nothing is more healing for me in times like these. I come from the village. Here I realize how much I miss the country from time to time. look into the distance. And today, for a change, there is no theater nearby.
Edmund Telgenkamper was born in Gladbeck. After studying acting at the Hanover University of Music and Performing Arts, he was engaged at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg and then moved to the Basel Theater, the Burgtheater in Vienna and back to Basel. From 2006 to 2015 he was a member of the ensemble at the Munich Kammerspiele. Here he last worked with Susanne Kennedy, Andreas Kriegenburg and Johan Simons, among others, but then left Munich for a multi-year engagement in Zurich. For two years now he has been back in the ensemble of the Kammerspiele. In addition to the theatre, Telgenkämper also works in front of the camera and as a speaker for radio and television.