His country misses him: The American writer Allen Ginsberg, who died 25 years ago, was one of the most important grumblers and intellectual rebels in the United States. He liked his homeland, but never made it easy for her. “America, I gave you everything – and now I’m nothing,” he snaps in his lyrics “America“: “I’m fed up with your sick demands. Your whole machinery is too violent for me… I’ve made up my mind: there will be trouble!” One can assume that Ginsberg would not have reconciled with his country even in the 21st century, in view of various wars on terror, some of which were based on lies, Trump’s presidency and a growing right-wing extremist mob.
Michael Farin chose his radio play The wild eyes! The holy screams! at “America“ and “Howl“ served, but also with less well-known texts by Ginsberg such as “Kral Majales” and “A Supermarket in California“, frequently retranslated by Durs Grünbein and Clemens J. Setz, among others. Poetry and prose interweave, literature and biography. It’s a fierce hunt through Ginsberg’s work and thought, 90 minutes of attack.
In terms of content, it gets down to business, even if there are always moments of conciliation. Michael Farin completely trusts the quality of the texts in his production. Neither in the subtle music of the Collapsing new buildings-Bassist Alexander Hacke, still in the voice of the actors, tries to reinforce the effect of what is said. Rather, he and the famous actors, including Ulrich Noethen, Ulrich Matthes and Kai Wiesinger, know that the more they withdraw, the clearer the matter itself appears.
The wild eyes! The holy screams! DLF Culture, April 3, 6:30 p.m.