Jan-Christoph Gockel is often in the theater from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., with him life and work merge. He is currently in the middle of rehearsals for the theater project “Who always hopes, dies singing”, which will soon be performed at the Kammerspiele. This is how Gockel describes his week from the perspective of someone who has gone into hiding, but who occasionally finds small time windows for other things.
Monday: Tinkering in a team
Marionettes for Gockel’s plays are created in Michael Pietsch’s puppet workshop.
(Photo: Jan-Christoph Gockel)
Before the rehearsal, I often stop by Michael Pietsch’s doll workshop. She moved in with us at the Kammerspiele. Michael is building a marionette for our project, it’s almost finished: an elephant. For each piece he explores new ways of puppetry and together we find out how the colleagues on stage can interact with the animal on strings. We have no rehearsals that evening, and I play inline hockey at “Turbine Aschheim”. I cannot practice sports that are not team sports. I always need people around me to do something together.
Tuesday: Clever(s) Thoughts
Alexander Kluge reads “Grammar’s Grammar” in the Kammerspiele on the stage of the Schauspielhaus.
(Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa)
The first main rehearsal begins at 11 a.m. This means that we try to play our piece in sequence. Everything is still in process. After the run, we sit down with the team and people from the house who watched and discuss how it affected us and what we would like to change. In the evening Alexander Kluge is a guest at the Kammerspiele and reads on the stage of the theater: “Grammar of Magnanimity”. We used his latest books for our play – the circus commentary, for example – when Kluge talks about it, it’s still something special.
Wednesday: Learning from Africa
In the film “Coltan Fever: Connecting People” Yves Ndagano from Congo (middle) tells his story.
(Photo: coltan fever)
Today we don’t play a run-through, but have time to correct or completely overturn things. In the evening I emerge briefly from the project and zoom in with Yves Ndagano from the Congo. We discuss at which film festivals we can continue showing our joint film “Coltan fever: Connecting People”. In this film he tells his story: How he himself went from being a child soldier to an artist who takes possession of his own story. Despite all the tragedy, it is a story of success that shows opportunities for change. Christoph Schlingensief once said: “Learn from Africa”. In concrete terms, this evening means for me: less talking, more listening.
Thursday: Integrative Projects
The “Conviva” restaurant in the Blue House of the Kammerspiele belongs to the “Cooperative protective workplaces” (CbA).
(Photo: Catherine Hess)
You guessed it – at 10 o’clock the rehearsal starts again. “Who always hopes, dies singing” is a theater evening in which actors and actresses with mental disabilities also take part. For me it is the first work in such a constellation and we will design the piece in such a way that there will be room for improvisation. This is only possible in the theater: reacting spontaneously to the people in the room and writing the story over and over again. In the evening we play another round and then sit in the “Conviva” in the Blue House – the excellent restaurant in the Kammerspiele. A cliché? Yes maybe, but spending time together is the core of what we do for me. Some colleagues from the Residenztheater drop by because, contrary to rumors to the contrary, we like each other. The Conviva at the back of Maximilianstraße is an integrative gastronomy project that integrates people with learning, mental or psychological disabilities into working life.
Friday: Artists from Kyiv
We, the artistic directors of the Kammerspiele, are meeting with people who have fled the Ukraine this morning. The Kammerspiele have recently entered into a partnership with various artists from Kyiv. Some people from this “sisterhood” were able to flee from the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and are on their way to Munich. We hope that they will be here by the end of this week at the latest. In addition to accommodation and care, we also want to offer them space to continue practicing their art. Our doors and stages are wide open for this.
Saturday: beer and stage
In the beverage market-drinking hall hybrid “Bierkiste” in the Schlachthofviertel there are various types of beer.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
Since I love to cook, I use the morning to shop for groceries. I buy drinks at the beer crate on Zenetti Street. A Berliner Späti in Munich, but they serve better beer than in Berlin. Then it’s back to the theater.
Sunday: free spaces
The Theresienwiese is one of Gockel’s favorite places.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
The Theresienwiese is one of my favorite places in Munich. I live nearby. People exercise, walk and hang out. To be honest, I’m very glad that there hasn’t been an Oktoberfest since we’ve been living here. So it really feels like a space that I haven’t found that many before. Then the youngest of my five brothers comes over for dinner – he also lives in Munich.
Jan-Christoph Gockel is a theater and film director. He has been part of the artistic direction of the Munich Kammerspiele since 2020. He studied directing in Berlin, where he also lived for many years. Among others, Michael Pietsch came to Munich with him. Theater work took Gockel to many European cities and different places. He has made two films, both of which are set in African countries. “Coltan Fieber: Connecting People”, a production from Germany and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was screened at the beginning of the year in the “Documentary Film” competition of the Max Ophüls Film Festival.