“Amusing, entertaining, intense and so latino-explosive as ever.”
Ian Thomson’s staging of THE OPEN RELATIONSHIP provides a real firework of emotions that can not be held on a stage. After sold-out performances in Hamburg’s Sprechwerk and Bad Segeberg’s Mill Theatre, Clara Vélez and Anderson Farah perform at the KAFFEERÖSTEREI in Hamburg’s picturesque Speicherstadt.
Although originally written and preformed in Italian, Franca Rame’s and Dario Fo’s THE OPEN RELATIONSHIP has been so popular with German audiences it almost belongs to the modern German classics. The comedy has now been reinterpreted by three artists from different cultural circles, which in itself is a testament to the cosmopolitan nature of the city of Hamburg: the actor Clara Vélez from Colombia and Anderson Farah from Brazil, and the director Ian Thomson from Australia. The drama does not take place in a classic theater on the stage, but in the midst of the audience. The tragic farce is document to contemporary relationship history. Antonia (Clara Vélez) and her husband (Anderson Farah) have been married for too long. But in a modern marriage between open-minded people, one must be prepared to try new things. This becomes part of the arsenal of the Rose War, which escalates from subliminal accusations, over open hostilities to blatant violence. And while it is true that he is the one that initially grabs the upper hand by being unfaithful (a Latin lover who seeks out women “who carry their brains in their Gucci handbags”), it is Antonia who eventually steps up and tips the balance. The old story again? Love and hate, love and hate. And what if the only way out is suicide? Temper, sarcasm and drama crown this madness. Is there a way to imaginable happy ending?
Actors: Anderson Farah & Clara Vélez | Director: Ian W Thomson | Production: Vanessa Manthey
