Productions

  • © Hendrik Lietmann

  • © Hendrik Lietmann

The Story of an Hour

Marie Schleef | Jule Saworski | Anne Tismer

»The Story of an Hour« is about Louise Mallard, who has just learned of her husband’s sudden death in an apparent train accident. Her sister Josephine attempts to deliver the news delicately since Louise suffers from a weak heart. She bursts into tears and locks herself in her bedroom. There, Louise is unexpectedly overcome with something she’s never felt before.

In the span of exactly sixty minutes, Kate Chopin’s short story unpacks and determines a utopia of self-determined transformation. First published in 1894, »The Story of an Hour« exemplifies this American writer’s work, but is still little known to readers outside of the United States. It will be performed for the first time on the German stage. For Marie Schleef and her team, the short story, in the form of an hour-long silent piece, becomes the basis for examining new narrative and dream spaces void of the spoken word. In this way, the artistic team expands on their experiments with visual and performative storytelling explored in two previous works. Together with the adaptation of the novel »To the Lighthouse« (Volksbühne Berlin, 2018) and »Name Her. Eine Suche nach den Frauen+« (Ballhaus Ost, 2020), a collaborative work by Marie SchleefJule SaworskiAnne Tismer, and Laura Andreß that was invited to the 58th Berlin Theatertreffen, »Die Geschichte einer Stunde | The Story of an Hour« completes Marie Schleef’s trilogy dealing with »rooms of emancipation« in which literature and history are investigated in terms of new and forgotten spaces of possibility.

Premiere

  • Jan 13, 2022
Past Dates
  • Jan 13, 2022
  • Jan 14, 2022
  • Jan 15, 2022
  • Jan 16, 2022
  • Mar 10, 2022
  • Mar 11, 2022
  • Mar 12, 2022

Duration

1 hours

Language

Ohne Lautsprache, mit Übertiteln

Development, movement language, performance, costume

Anne Tismer (>>>NEWSTARDANCECOMPANY – MAASA)

Idea, concept, direction

Marie Schleef

Concept, stage, video

Jule Saworski

Dramaturgy, translation

Hannah Schünemann

Camera, editing

Hendrik Lietmann

Lighting

Leander Hagen

Video operator, stage management, superman

Ruben Müller

Artistic production management

Michiko Günther und Ayako Toyama

Animation assistance, editing

Anna Luisa Schmid

Stage design assistance

Chloe Lovick Kelly

Stage construction

Jörg Fischer

Project consulting

Anna Bergel

Online, print media

Tania Schleef

Communication, network

Wiebke Jahns

ranslation into English for communication and research

Cameron Seglias

 

A production by Marie Schleef and team in cooperation with Ballhaus Ost Berlin and in co-production with Kosmos Theater Vienna. Funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe and the Foundation Women in Europe / TuWas – foundation for public spirit.