In Bochum you can finally see Ivanov again.

That outstanding Chekhov production that premiered in January 2020 and was only seen a few times before the pandemic struck and turned our city theaters into gloomy non-places.

Now to be seen again in Bochum: four impressive hours of actor's theatre, four hours after which one may doubt one's own life plan, but is full of hope for the future of German theatre.

Paradigmatic program booklet

It's just a pity that you're in another German city with B that evening.

There is also a performance of “Iwanow” at the Berliner Ensemble.

"Freely based on Anton Chekhov" edited and staged by director Yana Ross.

Until recently, she was still associated with the Zurich Schauspielhaus, which made negative headlines because of its excessive morality, but now she is supposed to produce regularly here at the house.

One could lose a few words about the performance itself, could describe, criticize, classify or get angry.

What is more interesting, because it is more paradigmatic, is what is written in the program booklet about the production conditions of this theater work.

A little more distance?

The director is then asked by her dramaturge (why not by someone with a little more distance?): "What role does working with the ensemble play in this creation?" Brook and Arienne (sic!) Mnouchkine" and willingly gives an insight into the working process: "Long before the start of rehearsals there was a workshop with the actors, in which we worked out what Chekhov's themes mean for today.

Then followed a conceptual preparatory work with the dramaturgical team and characters were developed.

We decided which topics and discourses should be pursued and deepened.

As regular rehearsal time began, I continued this exploration with the actors,

That's how easy it is to work in the theater, one thinks, impressed.

Ten actors come together with a director and talk about relevant topics.

And then you explore further.

And then you develop characters.

And then you improvise the scenes from it.

This creates three hours on one of the most respected theater stages in the country.

Seductive ideal.

One imagines a young drama student reading this or a teacher who teaches drama in Chemnitz.

And then you look at the stage again: if you see the ensemble sitting on a tennis club terrace and being highly ironic, that means: highly provocatively asking about their worst “trigger words”.

You can see it, sitting in Berlin and thinking about Bochum all the time.