It is a cozy ambience “Unterm First” in the Ebersberger Klosterbauhof. The long wooden beams everywhere exude the unmistakable charm of half-timbered art. The space seems tailor-made for the two one-act plays by Anton Chekhov, which Theater intermediate tone now performed here: “The Bear” and “The Marriage Proposal”. Because both plays are set in a rural manor house, somewhere in faraway Russia. And so it is very easy, even without a large backdrop, to mentally put yourself in this very scenery.
The viewer sits in the dining room when the angry landowner Grigory Smirnov tries to collect the debts of the grieving widow Elena Popova from her deceased husband. And one throws one’s hands over one’s head when hypochondriac Ivan Lomov keeps falling out with Natalia Stepanova over trifles – when he actually wants to marry her.
The conflicting behavior of the characters gives impetus to self-reflection
Chekhov’s plays are humorous character studies which – although they are more than a hundred years old – still seem wonderfully true to life. Again and again the viewer can find himself in the behavior of the characters. In the internal, but also interpersonal conflicts of the actors, which are only too reminiscent of situations from our everyday lives.
And then you feel caught. For example, when the hypochondriac Lomov considers his stress-induced illness symptoms to be the end of his days. How many times have you typed puzzling symptoms into the search engine yourself to find out what terrible diseases you might be suffering from? But the audience also sympathizes when the landowner Grigory Smirnov is disappointed in himself because he was once again unable to assert his interests.
Hypochondriac Ivan Lomov (Robert Rudolph-Torgany) makes the audience laugh in “The Marriage Proposal”.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
Conflicting emotions and heaps of conflicts with conventions rage in the actors throughout the evening. And the audience? Enjoys himself tremendously about the often avoidable abysses into which the protagonists throw themselves time and time again. But every time the viewer laughs heartily at the actions and thoughts of one of the characters, they may also laugh a little at themselves.
For the premiere of the Chekhov program, the Ebersberger Saal is well filled, only a few chairs remain free. A nice confirmation of the many efforts of the theater troupe. “We rehearsed for a year,” says director Bina Schröer. “All our actors are amateurs, and Chekhov’s plays are quite demanding – I’m very proud of the team!” All the actors were highly motivated from the start. “They absolutely wanted to play Chekhov,” says Schröer. And of course everyone is happy to be able to rehearse and perform again after this long, lonely and culture-poor Corona period.
Chekhov’s plays are non-political – unfortunately life is not
When planning the program, the director goes on, a question arose among the actors: “Can we really do a Russian play?” But in the end a common answer was found: “Yes, it works, the culture has nothing to do with this conflict.” As a result, they deliberately stayed away from the topic. “We’re not at war with the Russian people,” was the tenor on the evening of the premiere. Separating from Russian culture now would not be a step in the right direction. When some viewers are still talking to the actors after the performance, the crisis in Ukraine is talked about here and there. In times like this, that is inevitable.
And there is another topic: the director tells how much she and many of her artist colleagues had to struggle with during the Corona crisis, and how glad she is that business is slowly picking up speed again. Even if everything doesn’t feel the way it did before the pandemic. “You still feel a certain insecurity and also a lack of strength,” said Schröer. She also rehearsed a piece several times with the group Zwischenton – and then wasn’t allowed to perform it. “All of this took a lot out of us.”
It’s worth rehearsing again: director Bina Schröer is very happy that cultural life is now gaining momentum.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
However, there is no sign of this on stage: the actors are all fully committed. Small text errors here and there are imperceptibly concealed. The amateurs really cut a fine figure in Chekhov’s plays. And anyone who is annoyed because they may have missed the performance in the monastery building yard can breathe a sigh of relief: it was the prelude to further performances by the Ebersberg drama group. Ivan Lomov will also make the audience laugh again. If, as the hypochondriac would say himself, “…I’m still alive until then!”
The “Theater Intermediate Tone” plays “The Bear” and “The Marriage Proposal” by Anton Chekhov again on Friday, March 31, at 8 p.m. in the Ebersberger Altes Kino, on Friday, April 8, at 8 p.m. in the Grafing City Library and on Friday, May 19 , at 8 p.m. on the Kultur-Etage Messestadt.