 So welcome, everybody, to the martinis. This is a day two of what somehow we think might be the core of our spring season. It's the Penworld Voices Festival, and we already had two days. The first evening on Monday we had a session on the Gorky, the work of the Gorky Theatre, the ideas, their vision, and we had Christopher, who is here with us, who talked about it together with Sivan and Nora, and Dimitri, who is today, not with us, but he will be back tomorrow, and we talked about what the Gorky Theatre is all about. Normally for Penworld Voices we invite playwrights from all around the world, from all the continents, from Africa, Latin America, Asia, Australia, also European, Eastern European, or Russian, and to see what are current trends in writing, what is on people's mind, what should we pay attention to, what is really on the horizon. This year we decided to actually feature one theatre, and this is the Gorky Theatre in Berlin, of all the theatres in Berlin, and many say, and I would agree, it is at the moment the most shining. It's one of the four or five state theatres, the city's theatres, next to the 20 big theatres. It's the smallest one, architecturally, very prominently placed, under the Linden, close to the Opera and the Neue Galette Museum. It's a beautiful building, a classical building, and in Germany every five, six, seven, or ten years there's new artistic leadership coming in. This year we do celebrate the leadership of Sherman and Jens, who took it over and said, this is an ensemble where basically everybody on the ensemble and everybody who comes in and directs doesn't look like me, it's like a German, and are from all around the world, refugees, a first generation, immigrants, or second generation, and they actually develop their work in a new style. Hans-Tis Lehmann, when he was here last year, did say in post-traumatic theatre, he is misunderstood, it's not that he says we are beyond writing, that playwrights don't count anymore, actually the new ways of writing are needed, and as we heard from the discussions yesterday and from the Monday evening, the Gorky, is to find a way how an ensemble collaborates, and I would like to thank again Krista for coming over and everybody, so again, this is Krista of Nora, there is, and today's play is the Making of, and it is directed by Sybil Kampson, who is just over here, Sybil, say hello, and Nora wrote it, who is here, and she flew all the way in from Berlin just to be with us, so it's a very, very, very special day, and I would like to thank Antje Ögel, who collaborated with us, and Michael and Eliad and everybody to make this happen, so if you have your cell phone now, it's the time to take it out and double check, it's off, and the Siegel Theatre Center has collaborated, since 10 years with Penfold Voices, I actually wrote to them and said, you don't just need to have poets and novelists and short story writers also, theatre writers should be represented, they said yes, of course, so we are very honored to be with that great organization, Pen does get writers out of prison, it's a freedom to write program, it's a human rights activist group also, and it gives out the most significant literary awards in the US, and this festival, which we are part of, is the most significant literary festival, it's going on all over the city right now, go to the website, it's sensational what Pen put together and what Chip Rowley did, so it's a real honor for us. The Siegel Center bridges academia and professional theatre, international and American theatre, so this of course is right at the core of what we do. So again, now we're going to start and simple, maybe you have a few words to tell us about the play and how you approach this, and it will be followed by a discussion, and tonight after the second reading we will also have a reception in the archive bar. Thank you Frank, thank you Ancha and the Siegel Center, and everybody up in the booth, thank you for today, and to Nora for being here, we had a great time today rehearsing. I just wanted to say that some of the cultural references between German and English, I don't want you to be startled, but we're going to have some visual aids to help you along with that stuff, and help us bridge the Atlantic as we go, so don't be startled when those come up. And we've just had today to rehearse, so it's been fast and furious, but Nora came and helped us and it was a lot of fun. I just want to introduce the actors to you also. Let's see who come and tell you who they're playing. So first is Christopher Rashi Stevenson. He is going to read stage directions and several other roles. Here's Robert M. Johansson, he's going to play Mads. This is Oceana James, she's going to read the part of Gordon, which is a woman named Gordon, just so that's why I wanted to do this, so you don't get confused. Here's Eleanor Hutchins, she's going to read Gloria, and here's Rolls Andre, he's going to be the jackal. Thanks for being here everybody, thank you. One, scene one, three. It was meant to be the project of the century. Wild animals. Women's bodies, men's bodies. I was looking up to play Batman. Impressive predecessors, Christian Bale. I've also gained self-awareness in Tantra workshops and sweat lodges, but this was another dimension. We were a family. The girl is a kind of noble savage, a goddess armed with natural instincts. An exceptional team, even the stunt department. Jiu Jitsu, European champion, Taekwondo, mixed martial arts and... Congratulation. Congratulation, thank you. I wish he had, that was pretty hard to swallow. That's the problem in Germany, commerce is always presumed to be anti-aught. And the money, I mean, three million euros, just saying. Germany, that's almost... I was working for Special Rape, who else dares to take on a superhero adaptation. A driver's swanky hotel, all flights premium class. I come from performance art, where you'll be waiting a long time for eight million euros. I slept in my caravan. It was a good hard mattress, good for the back. And Gordon. Gordon! She works without compromising visionaries. She restored my faith in German cinema. Absolutely exceptional actors. I'd say it's a highly talented cast. I had some intensive coaching with Frank... With the jackal leading the way. Think tobacco. You won't find it in a school, you can't learn something like that. The coaching wasn't exactly cheap, but anything for art. He's just there, feeling, reaction, unbelievable. Awards? I'll happily take them. Work too. Joke, actually. The Batman Rises! Woo-hoo! Scene two, Gordon. My name is Gordon. I'm a director, but since I saw Beauty and the Beast as a girl with my cousin Martina, I loved film, and men with highly developed back hair. And I love money. With it, you can buy yourself a better life, better food, kitten heels. It gains you recognition and respect, whereas money you don't have leads you into servitude. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about. So, take my time, talent, work, to the one thing that combines money and cinematic art. German mainstream film. I had my first contact with the Batman in the Batman The Movie. As you know, we women don't have a beast. Last year, the broadcasting institutions didn't support a single woman in the high-budget sector. I can sense your gender-neutral haircuts getting messed up from chair head shaking with my TV license fee. I saw the afternoon showing for two-and-a-half Deutsch marks. But whoever said that artistic talent is equally distributed over gender, skin color, and class? Now, I'm here. Warner Brothers Movie World at Bultrup Cure Column. The market answers these questions with facts. The most successful films were made by white men that starred a white man. My father's very proud, too. But I was lucky, after a decade of acquisition, a rash from crawling up the asses of producers at Berlin Film Festival receptions and countless undignified side jobs don't came on board as producer. This film was my chance to prove myself. On the evidence, my one, only one. As an actor, the greatest challenge of my life. You put that in my seat. Thank you. Off you go. Scene 3, Gloria. A formula for a successful film. By success, I mean money. Not craze at prestigious festivals or balloons, but docks. I'm talking about a box office hit. But the industry has certain conventions. Rule one, name recognition. Well-known faces are considered a promise of quality. Gloria, it's a feminist performance festival in Malboa. Flashback feminist performance festival in Malboa. Pussy just p- She pulls a bloody tampon out of her vagina. And Flashback feminist performance festival in Malboa. She was a child star. At the age of nine, she won the prom door for Pink is a Moist Color. A captivating film about the love between two erotically gifted girls. The critics raved about it. Of course, it wasn't about the explicit teenage lesbian scenes. Gloria then distanced herself from the director. Flashback Malboa rest of her. Gloria is drinking a mango daiquiri. I distanced myself from the director. Went underground at first. Now she does. I do feminist performance. The film industry is still a patriarchal capitalist machine. Great show. On stage. Gordon swallowed something up. On stage. Gordon swallowed something up. On stage. I am the curator of myself in relation to the eyes looking at me. And your hair is blonde now. Jackpot. I dream of one day. Dream casting. Not sick. Not fat. Not over 30. Not frigid. And the hairless child body. Here in Sweden. Why are you crying? She takes her hand. Thank you. Have you read the play? The script? Many times. What do you think of it? I thought it was pretty crappy. Why is the woman called the girl? The girl represents a feminine elemental force. I didn't want to personalize. Why does she get licked out by a jackal? That he doesn't lick her out. He frees her from the alienated working conditions. They were made for Boris. Do it like on Game of Thrones. Gently and aestheticized flashbacks. Then along comes the jackal. An animal of post-modern libertine. And liberates her. Why did she have to be liberated? Now I have race, class, gender. Gloria, race, class, gender. No embakement was a white heterosexual sismat, a privileged multibillionaire vigilati. Do you feel represented by that, Jack? We need new perspectives. Your feminist peep show was sublime. All right, the moment I'm trying to de-eroticize my body, all this being shiny and smelling good is masochistic. The Batman Rises isn't about erotic capital. It's about a woman's pleasure. In the Western tradition of thought, female sexuality is still reactive. Women may be satisfied, but may not admit to their own desire. What heterosexual man wants to see a beautiful blonde woman standing by her desire? None. Who demands her pleasure? None. Who masturbates vigorously? Who has animalistic sex and comes noisily? None. No one actually mount her. He bows down as he licks. And flashback. It was that simple. Race. Class. Gender. Open to the heart of every performance artist. Scene 4. Reading rehearsals. Showdown. As you can imagine, feminism is a box office place. Ugly, lading, female academics. Howling about eating disorders. This morning, you ran out of tune. Is the patriarchy to blame? Are you with me? That doesn't earn you any money. But there is a form of emancipation that the market welcomes with its open arms. Beyonce, for example, had a moth hat, that slut with the bum. Queens of feminism, an infant with firm breasts who gets fucked by a predatory animal has a similar potential. A big like King Kong. Only more forceful. I can see you shaking your undercuts again. It reeks of old man fantasy. But the cultural history of the West, except for David Bowie and the New York Dolls, can be seen as a collective project for the manufacture of masculinity. Our geniuses are men. Our generals and dictators are poets and thinkers are men. We're men. Who do you think produces my films? The position in the film industry is a male resource. So is money. Why, in God's name, shouldn't I use them? Flashback, reading rehearsal. Hello, Gordon. How wonderful. I'm so pleased. I'm pulling a character. I already know the whole script by heart. Our lovely warrior. Glorio Mangodagri. Glorio, hello. Can I touch your hair? Yes. Lovely and blonde. I had it done because of Ingrid Bergman. The introduction goes on. Before we start filming, we all meet for the read room. This day is crucial for team building. The director needs to have sure instates. I usually tell a joke to relax the mood a bit. The director asks the female actor, shall we start filming right away? Or do you want something else to eat? To which she replies, The showdown. Jackie. The jackal enters and is introduced to the colleagues. Everyone is visibly tense. Team Jackie. Team Jackie. We'll start with the showdown. The jackal sends something. Everybody is scared. That's okay. He's caught us tense. Action. Whatever it is, it's new later. How long till it explodes? 35 seconds. Oh! Steady on! That was his line. Easy enough to make competition. Those are pure instates. Don't worry. Everything is going to be okay. Gloria sits down on Mads knees. This is an extremely intense encounter for me. He has to get used to it. Do you think I should give him... A treat? Yes. Do I throw it or do I give it to him like that? In the palm of your hand, look for the movements nice and slow. Like that? Flowing movements. Exuding call. Gloria feeds the jackal a treat. Again. Gordon goes to the front right. I'll watch from here. Whatever it is, it's new later. How long till it explodes? Oh! Rehearsal. The first week's box office results determine your success. The second rule of marketing is free awareness. People talk about excel. The guy in the audience doesn't have to love the film. Just talk about it. April. He jostles with a bunch of pickles and gets an Oscar for it. Our jackal is real. Jostling is the most g-rated euphemism for what he gets up to with Gloria. And people say that European cinema doesn't cross boundaries anymore. Scene 5. Jackal. It was the first time I've worked with a jackal. Gloria with mango daiquiri. You can domesticate it but to really... An archetype of wild... An archetype of wild elemental masculinity. We never knew if it was going to attack us. Jackal was kind of afraid of me. Wasn't easy. In the stomach. But after... After he led us performing it was clear we had to think outside the box. Beyond... Beyond... You can't communicate with him. You just get this paw coming at you. Scene 6. Feminine directing. Love scene. In the back. Love scene. Mads and Gloria. He is carrying her. I love working with men. You can just sense the presence of penis. You have to move. They need exchange on a physical level. Emotions. They aren't punished for crying. They're afraid. Gloria was in Mads arms. Questions confirm the rule. There are actresses who cry without a menthol lip balm. But they can cry at night when they call people up drunk begging for recognition or in the hospital when emotion breaks new ground systematically. Believe me bladder infections are a woman's uncried tears. Do you want me to increase the sense of threat? Because of the acid. I don't think I've ever seen you, so gentle. Takes his hands. We've seen it all. Okay. Gordon kisses both on forehead. Group hug. Group hug. When I direct, I'm a real mother. The film is my baby. The set is an orem which we have to feel safe. Mads takes an apple crumble from catering. Gloria takes a heat blend. A safe fit. I provide my tea with love, coziness, and bads love them. Delicious. Mahatma. Yes. We're getting ready to shoot. Women have to relearn how to embrace our femininity. Especially in positions of leadership. We're taking it from the top. The love scene in the acid bag. Two, one, and the second. Quiet, please. We're rolling. Come on. Sound. Set. Camera. Rolling. Margar. Action. You've been messing with the wrong people. Sorry. But Batra needs you, Batman. What if he doesn't exist anymore? I need you. Case. Cuts. Thank you, sweeties. Ah. Gloria's pain crying on her knees. Call a doctor, please. Stay with us. Oh, for a bit? Yeah, yeah, okay. Okay, from the top. Love scene in the acid bag. Two, one, and the third. Drop the carbonese pipe down back there. We need to concentrate. What a like we did in the rehearsal. I'm just sending them crap. We'll leave that to the audience. Give us some damn pace. Back love scene. Scene seven. Mads. Mads was very much tight cast. While we were preparing to shoot, he built up another 37 kilos of muscle mass. What an actor has the honor to play a character as iconic as the Batman. He needs courage and willingness to take risks and the ability to concentrate on what is essential. Acting is a feminine profession. Who is mad? Women do what comes naturally to them, putting on makeup, getting dressed up, moments of sexuality and talking a lot. No touching feeling. None of that makeup. I never got to know him. Men have a heart. He stayed in character for seven months. I use the method. Oh, please. The method can make men's work visible. I lived among bats for eight months. I did all my stunts myself. That's why they earned more, too. My first vertebra was broken. I'll take it easy now. We know how important work is for the Constitution of the male self. The bat suit weighs more than a bat suit has ever weighed before. Even more than Christian Bayles. He was the Batman. It was eerie. It was like riding a bike. First I had to train it, but now it just happens. Then the showdown. Scene eight. Showdown. That's how I decided. The stunt double said he was going to fly up to the Boeing in the unit helicopter so he could abseil down. I was tied to a seven-meter truck and I turned around and said, No way. On the wing of nose diving Boeing 737 that view over Bop-Trop-Kirch-Holland bike scene with a real jackal. I want to experience that myself, buddy. The showdown, the Batman, finally experiences the majestic redeployment of his masculinity voice machine braves. Of his masculinity? Holy shit. I think the voice machine's broken. The battery ran on. I don't understand. I pressed it here. I told you it was a cheap piece of junk. His vocal cords. Bloody thing. Clare your throat. I think the batteries ran out. Maybe with Peter Dinkler. No, I'm not. He's the son of a fallen emperor. The officers of the... What's that? Really impressive. I'm not a castrata. Shut up. The camera's rolling. I won't. I'm not a castrata. You've been calling me that on set for six months. I don't want the voice machine to pinch as the plaster of the cable pulls my hairs out. You started contracting. You do the making up with the voice machine. Fuck it. I don't ever want that thing pointing in my face again. Where put into my throat? I'm not a castrata. This is my... That's the truth. In the making up, I can blather on as much as I want to tonight. You kiss my ass or I'm off. Here takes a mango daiquiri. Gordon tries to get the situation under control. Gloria fondles the jackal. He wants to touch her pain. Second act, bright path. Scene one, the Batman rises. What is pop? What is film? What is fiction? The bat? Miss. Which penetrates people's everyday lives. Gloria with mango daiquiri. Strong women frighten men. The Batman comes out. The girl is a strong female character. She works as home help for Goris Wagner, the Batman. At the beginning... She loves him, but she senses that something isn't right. He's not being straight with her. The Batman's having existential crisis. The sex is already crisis. Look around you. Manor insecure, women are overwhelmed. The world thinks he's evil because he's taken original guilt upon himself. He's sad, drinks too much, he has suicidal thoughts. Personally, I find that so crap too. I mean, honestly, he still pays her like shit. The gender pay gap. He sacrifices her desire to have children for her to her career. Only to fail at the glass ceiling. He loves her in spite of her university education, but his willy ends up not in her, but in a sexual, continual reflection loop again. Thirty-something educated couples. May I touch your nipple, Beta? I mean, why? Then the jackal comes to Bartrop City. Because allocated roles are what make passion possible. Because the beast falls in love with beauty and not with his hailed classmate. All the others see a monster in the jackal, but his only crime is to be wild and untamed. Jackal organizes an anarchic underground army that brings about chaos in the city. Sexually, too. There is an inner history of masculinity. It's buried under the dust of 40 years of Emma magazine and overgrown with armpit hair. The girl joins him. She's naked, but politically naked. She frees herself by going back to nature, like anti-Christ. Women. Nature. Mad and woman, Mars and Venus, two polder opposites. During the shoot, I sometimes had these intellectual moments. When the girl leaves, the Batman, he goes into exile. I mean, really, Batman. We women have a strong inner essence. All we're lacking is power, structurally speaking. To barbaristan. The white man among the barbarians teaches him to find his way back to his inner core by doing a hell of a lot of pulls. The girl sacrifices herself to him for the revolution, like Lysistrata, only in reverse. Mainstream film is a factor in social order. Then the jackal turns out to be a beast, a rapist, murderer, and terrorist. If the Biden public is confused, it creates orientation. The balance of Western civilization is at stake, and the fat man has to re-establish it. But let's be honest. Boisvanger, who can live up to him? I can. No. Yes, I can. Not with that voice, my friend. Gordon takes off the mask and the muscle costume off the Batman. What are you doing now? People, you're on. It's time for the Gloria Tickles Jackal interview with advertising gimmick. It's here, my script. Gordon puts him on position. You wanted the truth, but you're getting it. Mads wasn't a type cast, as I mysteriously cleaned. What comes next? Flashback casting. Holy shit, that's not my script. Scene two, casting. Flashback casting. Please, to meet you. Are you ready? We'll start off with the showdown. The jackals, the girl and you are on the wing of a Boeing 737 approaching bar drop. You have 35 seconds till the bomb explodes. Yes, I'm ready. Good. A fight to the death. Whatever it is, it's nuclear. Thank you. Lowering her own voice, like giving him lessons. Should I do a bit more urgency? Thank you. More urgency. Breathe in from here. Voice lesson. Mads does it too. She tries to lower her voice. There's the fear. I'm not afraid. Nice and relaxed. Action. Whatever it is, it's nuclear. Thank you. My diaphragm is still low-tests. It was very good. Let's try that variation. The Batman has got injured while fighting with the jackal. On his voice. Can you imagine how that feels? Ah. Ah. Ah. Whatever it is, it's nuclear. Should I take my voice a little higher? Not higher. What is it then? Your voice is too high. You're the Batman. I'll say the lie in the lower voice, no problem. Say it in the lower voice. Whatever it is, it's nuclear. That's in the lower voice. My dad said it fits well because bats communicate via sonar. Whatever it is, it's nuclear. You've got the role. Amazing. Where's the director? I'm the director. Ciao. Scene three, Gloria Jackal, volume one. Gloria plays sensually with the jackal as a Batman advertisement gimmick. We'd never have been able to afford you. Dolp has lots of experience in the action film business. A different level of expertise. He comes from Sweden, which I think is cool. Mads Mum did the script continuity on Universal Soldier. That's where she met Dolp. Nine months later along came Little Mads. Wasn't easy for him. Michael Jackson's daughter has a few tattoos now. Johnny Depps, she's anorexic. But he put on a good show. As for questions of detail, both physical and vocal, we reached into our bag of tricks. In the opera, the most demanding voice is the tenor. My dad said in the film, people reach into their bag of tricks. So we did, vocally and physically. Scene four, fitting, flashback fitting. Rule three, body lift. Stand right here, beauty. Gord looks at Gloria's body. Simone, this is Gloria. Oh, blonde. Yes, I was in Malno. Are our bodies replacing religion? Are they a momentum of stability, a physical declaration of control in imponderable times? Show your hands. Decadent sons of bitches with the time and money to incessantly circle around ourselves. Looking at Gloria's butt. Sociology holds answers to the questions of our time. But I don't give a shit about sociology. Touching thigh gap. Congrats. Fact is, leisurely bodies have a market value. Nice and firm. Let's tickle. An actor's body needs to be evaluated before shooting starts. We're marketing a premium product after all. Symmetrical face. Straight nose. Perked breasts. In women your age, breasts are often, often start looking like fluffy dolls. Don't you ever wear a bra? Never. Gord makes a gesture of happiness. Looks into Gloria's panties. Anxious. Simone. Hair. We'll have to see that. We'll have to shave you, love. Why? So your skin can breathe better. I had to shave for pink is a moist color, too. I don't like being forced to shave, Gord. That's time. A little lie helps. We're wondering whether the girl should get a no. Why do I have to shave your whole body? Brazilian. With no man's land or without. With deal. Go to Simone, she'll make a cast for the nose. Remember the hashtag outcry over Michael's face, benders willy and shame? Male nudity is provocative and brave. A willy wants to act, to dominate and rule and not to stay within its object status. Women, on the other hand, can be naked but not ugly. The bravest thing that an actress can do is therefore with a no. Don't get me wrong, nobody would cast a dog. Look at that woman. Do you want to see a predator licking her out? You take a model and stick on a nose on her. Charlize Theron and Monster got the no. Nicole Kidman in the hour was two. Sticking a no on me, bringing the Oscar into view. Look at that nose. Of course she didn't get a no. Look at you, how flirty and expressive. For that you need a minimum of class. Mads is jogging on stage. Keep your composure, be sensitive. What is that? It's from my dad when I sent him the second part of the pendant. So cute. How big. Thirty centimeters. Respect, box office poison. Thirty-two if I tense it. I've been doing craft mogul with a stunt coordinator. Do you know what your duty is with this film? To tell stories. But even more than that, we create icons. Like your dad. Your tales are indispensable for the people out there. Do you understand? I'm not stupid. Did your dad take care of you? When I turned 18 he gave me 600 Swedish Kroners for my driver's license. You are lucky. Little boys need role models, especially fat unhappy little boys with absent fathers. You're their idol. Your body allows them a boundless ongoing dispute with their own stubborn nonsense. I met Dustin, Ricardo, Air, your rude stub wanking and take back control. Terrific. So, now let's take this and convert it into perfection. How tall? One meter seventy-six. We can cheat with height, one meter seventy-six. Mariah? Mariah, Simone does makeup. Hi, hi, hi. Have a contagious disease so they stay off stage. Now no one's ever gone out of here unhappy. They all say wow on the first day of shooting. Shoulders must be wider. We need more of a bee in the waist. Alice, you'll get a hero's chest. And flashback, fitting. As long as you treat your actors with love and respect they can treat it. My dad played Ivan Drago. It's not always easy to compete with Ivan Drago, I prepared for the shoot conscientiously. I worked with a stunt coach in Berlin, but compared to him I sometimes didn't get enough respect in pre-production. What are you doing? Time for my perspective. No. Yes, flashback, fitting, mad perspective. Teeth. Mad shows teeth. He's got brown bits in the crack. That's for my sandwich. Tooth out of position. You adjusted. She became really abusive. Ugh, fucking adjusted. Now he's cast as Jurgen Bohl. We can't sort everything out in post-production. I wanted an act of a... It simply wasn't professional. The producers decide on him. So they can pay now too. Gloria is what makes her 80 and they still... Don't work, Estrada. No, you're... And flashback, fitting, mad perspective. Scene five, love scenes. After fitting came the love scene and acid bath. We've already shown that. Not what really happened. We're gonna do the flashback, the love scene and the acid bath. Hell, it really was. What? No. Gloria, come with me. But I'm not on again until the licking out interview. You're on now if I say you are. That's how crowdfunding is being. Flashback, love scene, mad perspective. Gloria jumps into mad zones. Butchup needs the Batman. What if he doesn't exist anymore? Cut your shaking. My upper arms are burning already. Shall I give you a quick massage? Just ask it all over the floor. If you drop her, she'll die. Could I give her a piggyback? No, you win. The Batman bears his pain stoically. But there's a tingling in my biceps. I can't do it. And flashback, love scene, mad perspective. He didn't say it like that. Yes, I did. No, he didn't. Flashback, love scene, back to Gloria. Love scene, back to Gordon's perspective. But there's a tingling in my biceps. It'd be easier if you weren't such a beach dwell. You understood me. You lard-assed that fat neck. She's sweating all over my costume. Do we continue? Why does she put so much bread on her butter? I just burned fat very quickly. Shut up. I'll reduce your rate. My dad pays for the catering. You always take two apple filters, too. Since May, I've been on low carbs and she eats like a horse. It's not fair. She's sweating all over my costume. And flashback, love scene. Gordon and Mads looking to each other's eyes realize they're being filmed looking to the camera. That's not going into making them. Gesture cut from Gordon and Mads. Turn the camera off! Look, scene six, licking, ecstasy. Such a thing has never before been seen on German screens. It could be said the licking out scene is provocative. Gloria drunk with mango daiquiri almost empty. Fucking cunt. Court. Anything for a mark. The licking out scene was intended as a provocation. We all agreed on that. That's why we could go so far. The girl is actively looking for the object of her desire. She's in full effect. A kind of shamanic... Shame. Shamanic speech. The problem with emancipation is that people aren't allowed to say what they want to. That even autonomous women still dream of dominant men. I was, it's like I was running wild. A game of potency domination and control and nature's holiest wonder. I think they tried it with a cup of first. The bologna sausage. I thought it was important that people see in Jackie something other than a hairy warrior. The meatloaf, then mortzadella, that Italian sausage with the face. It was like a kind of disillusion of boundary. I had to give myself to the animal. Fairly radical. It was a game with intensity. In the end it was liver sausage. It began head to head. Who pays for on the sausage? Who does? Make up considered a vaginal prosthesis. Dad pays for the sausage. But that would have falsified the moment. The male jackal doesn't eat until the female is full. Whether it's art, let's just all smear ourselves in liver sausage. Ecstasy. Would I have liked to trade places with the jackal? Yes, I would. I demanded an open set. I wanted everyone to stay in the room to expose themselves to its situation. The loss of control was rewarded. Pure. It made sense that we all had to be naked on the set supporting our colleague. My pleasure. My colleague is the bad man coming on his day off to support us. I thought that was impressive. I can't help thinking about it whenever I see liver sausage. You question your own sexual life at a time like that. All smeared in liver sausage. Our bodies were covered in liver sausage. You must be the most political scene of the whole film. Scene seven, Gloria Jackal volume two. Gloria. Gloria fully drunk. Shackles. Jackal. Shackles are actually very... Now he's excited. He's stinking. He's sick. It's a disease. Mouth is smellous. We had a little period of settling in together. That's when I learned from the animal trainer that it's important to clarify the ranking order. If he doesn't listen to you, you grab him by the neck and signal that you are stronger. He grabs him on the neck. Give me your paw. You did that nicely on a tree. I enjoyed that scene so much he's getting boisterous. Now I can't imagine a better acting partner. An animal forces you to remain authentic. If you shoot a love scene with a jackal, then that's reality. You don't have to act at all. You're a wild animal. He didn't read the script. I did. Where is the syntax? They say all the best actors are dyslexic. So as for jackals... I'm not a jackal. They understand everything we say. You understand everything. I wanted to talk to her about Fordu. She said she preferred white white. At first I had to get used to his nose. I had to get used to hers. From the second week of shooting we called her Don Prometo. I tried to just breathe through my mouth. Do we wash you properly? Wash? Did you nip me again? Yes. Are you nibbling my finger? She's just pretending she can't hear me. He's still an unpredictable animal. Damn a Nazi. Didn't you want to go to Sweden? She did my face. Shut up! What are you doing? I'm chilling my face. This guy just marked his territory. I couldn't stay inside. What's going on in here? He's talking again. Shut up! Now let's clarify the imbalance of power here. In truth, during the leaking out scene there were complications between the actress and the director. No, there weren't. Let's stay at work. Get ready. Here comes a leaking out scene flashback. Oh, it's my favorite scene. The flashbacks are in my contract. I have to sort it out with my agent first. Jackal gives her a mango jackery. Fallacy's color. Truth is life. Scene eight. Licking. Truth. Flashback. Licking out scene. Life. Gordon with headphones and a salmon bread roll. Looks into the watch room. Mads from the off. Grunting and licking. Gloria and Jackal. If she does that again, I'll lend her packing. Can you give me softer lighting? This is a closed set. You want good lighting, don't you? Set. And action. Gloria moaning from the back. What's she doing? She's snoring. Comes on stage. I think she fell asleep. Gloria! Gloria comes on stage drunk. Mia Culpebas. I wasn't with you for a second there, but Jackie was doing a great job. It'll be a radically potential film. We have a huge problem here. That's a refusal to work. Get Dolph on the phone. Phone comes out of the scene. Hey, Dolph! We're shooting the set scene with the Jackal and the actresses it's available. Tell them it's a feminist film. I'll wait. Gordon makes her decision. She takes off her pants and moves toward the set. You stay here! To the Jackal. I should warm up a bit before we... And a flashback looking out of the scene. Second act. Dark half. Scene nine. Jackal. The Jackal reached its zenith of its career in the 70s. I'm not a Jackal. Jackals were very much in demand back then. Doug Jackal, Carlos the Jackal, Conan the Jackal. Then the Muslims came along. Conceptual, I ask you. Look at him. Nust has made it to grow. Smiles ironically at the Jackal. I think Gordon wanted to give him a chance to reposition himself. Jackals are naturally promiscuous. I'm married. They stumbled through a world of flesh and orifices. This evolution requires them to distribute their seed. Jackal is Jackal and the Batman is the Batman. We'd endangered the body doubles life. The Jackal is a shrewd predator on and off camera. After Mads' functional impaired biceps performance in Velocine, he offered to train him. Really Gordon? Really terrible. Fallacy is colored. Truth is... Seen 10 biceps training. Flashback biceps training. Mads and Jackal are training their biceps. Mads is out of breath. Asthma. Asthma tense. I'm a bit out of shape. It's already burning a bit. You have to keep your hands parallel for the biceps. Otherwise you'll be jittery at first. You end up weaker and hurting yourself. It's the same with me. Look here. That's not nothing, is it? How big are yours? 36. Do you have veins? Oh, I've got two. That's meatloaf. That's axel. I knew one was coming here. I'll have to think of what to call it. I almost have three too. My arms are too big. My dad has six. Do you work out together? He gave me a fitness manual. Stockholm body fever. I always get signed boxes of his DVDs. Does he come out and visit you sometimes? It's too expensive to come from Stockholm. He has to scrape the money together. Are we doing another set? You don't have to prove anything to him. I'm more of a character actor anyway. Like old Sheen, Brando, Pacino. Your father, Stallone and Bandam, they were caricatures. Copies without an original. In the 40s, the Batman hunted Nazis. In the Cold War, it was extra-terrestrials. In the postmodern era, he suddenly became a reflective loner. Heroes are children of their time. How are you on 18th century literature? Not so good. Do you know what made the 18th century heroes great? No. They're sensitivity. When Goethe wrote the work there, he said, you have to play out your soul's drums. I know Goethe. Homer's heroes, Agamemnon, Achilles were men who cried. Don't let anyone tell you they're admissible and inadmissible feelings. When you act, you have to be fully inside yourself. Not fully outside yourself. Less rehearsed to show down. You're Rocky. I'm even Drago. I'm the Batman. You're the Batman. I'm the Jackal. Hit me. Mads hits Jackal. Doesn't hurt. Again. What would your dad do now? What would he do? Hit. Jackal hits Mads heavily. Mads goes on his knees. No bruising. Jackal gives him a bruise. By you a starring role, you are the future, my friends. And flashback, Bicep Stringy. Scene 11, privileges, Knife scene. The Jackal looked good in Bicep Stringy. He performed very offensively. My chances were clearly slim. The day after the scene is before the scene. I concentrated on the showdown. I wanted to find suitable conflict situations. My dad always said, no matter what happens, you hit back. We broke his first vertebra. Maybe we should explain to people watching the making of what went before. The love scene in the acid bath. Before that. I don't know what you meant. The first day of shooting. Oh. Nothing icing. Flashback, Knife scene. Shall we quickly go through our lines? If you need to. What do you want? Do you have to go through your lines? Each to. Then we'll verse it from the top. Alright, I don't need to either. Action. We can't see you. Go to your mark. And action. Again, from action. From the top. Yes. And action. The kinsky screw. Are you afraid? No. The truth. You gave them a false eye of Batman. I gave them what they needed. Sometimes the truth isn't enough. The truth is a knife that slides gently between the bones, Batman. It cuts away. Wait. I'll finish the rotation. Cut. Don't turn. We can't see you. Is it okay if I just say something? What is the scene about? What does his character want? He doesn't want to take the mask off. There is no he doesn't want. Express action, not reaction. Is he defending himself? Yes. He's defending his secret, right? He's protecting his true identity. And play it like that. Defend yourself. There's something away from you. I want your life. More lives. I want your role. Because my dad doesn't pay for me. I'm not an anti-billions like Boris Bagman. I don't know how I'm supposed to act if he is... Stay in it, mate. The Batman is a narcissistic costrater. I'm not a costrater. The film is called Teeny Bopper Destroys the World. It's not like a baby girl without your money and technique. You gave them a false eye of Batman. A chimera. Sometimes the truth isn't enough. The truth is a knife that glides gently between the bones. It cuts very deep. Very moving. We should do the first close-up on me. So my colleague has time to find a subtext for himself. Good suggestion. Gordon, can I speak to you quickly? Tell your muscles to stop staring at me. Tell your muscles to stop staring at me. Tell your muscles to stop staring at me. Tell your muscles to stop staring at me. Tell your muscles to stop staring at me. Tell your muscles to stop staring at me. Tell your muscles to stop staring at me. Imagine Gordon go off. The Jackal is waiting. He's scared they return. Mads just asked me to call Dove. Was Mads never the latest your last feature film? Jackal Among Jackals? That Polish, let's say a chore film. Check. When was that? 87. I'm very proud to be a part of this project. Don't get me wrong. We think your brilliant, your performance is a spectacle of nature. I went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Our problem is of a moral nature. As a white, privileged woman to translate the concerns of a subordinate Jackal. I don't know. We didn't cast someone. Who did his research? We wanted someone whose biography made him an expert. Why did Tom Hardy play Bane? Because he was a heap of shit before coming in after. Addicted to crap and a criminal and our Jackal. I'm not a Jackal. It's not a Mads. This difference. Mads, Dove and I want you to be free We want your acting to be the spark of truth that ignites every scene in this film. You want me to howl? Is that the authentic expression of your Jackal then? Yes. No more lies? If that's the way you want it. Mahatma to shoot. And flashback night scene. Can the Jackal speak? Yes. Did he learn his craft at an elite school? Okay. Has diversity become a sales concept? Guilty. Rule four. Identity creates markets. His job is to embody it as best he can. Ours is to market it as best we can. Of course he'd like to speak. But what is it my friend the cook says? If you can't stand the heat, don't enter the kitchen. Out of no any cooks. Scene 12. Showdown one. Flashback. Showdown. Whatever it is, it's nuclear. How long till it explodes? 35 seconds. Do you hear that? He's coming. Get the president on the phone. Let's leave the civilities aside, Batman. Your force bound there, heir to an empire. The Prince of Batra. You would have to travel miles to find someone who doesn't know your name. Don't come here and tell me how angry you are. Anger is our privilege. Albeit our only one. I am not the true evil. Gloria Further used tampon at the jackal. Cut! The take is useless now. Can you say something? Sensational. Do it again. With my lines? Let's leave the civilities. The line with rage. The other way around. Let's leave the civilities aside, Batman. Take your time. Let's leave. Now, imagine that it's a foreign language to you, the line. You only understand sing songs, Cyrillic. Let's leave. Fantastic! Actual being, her acting oscillated between abstraction and liberation. Then she began to drink a wayward face. Flashback night scene. You gave them a false idol, Batman. No line! I gave them what they needed. Sometimes the truth isn't enough. Jackal pulls out a knife, howls. The knife is a rotating build-up. Cut! Gloria! And flashback night scene. At first we got on well, then she tried to bring a feminist angle to the scene. Only against feminism. Flashback, a licking out scene. Gordon and Batman are watching the licking out scene in Watchmen. Gordon with headphones and salmon snack. Simone, reveal! Just a bit of the feature. Do it about this long on the face. Cut! What's that on your titties? Sharpie. Yes, what does it say? A link to the video with a Schneider. Where he buys the lucky bag from men. From Dr. Harrelick's practice? I know it. Are you stupid? Thought it'd be a bit of titty-tainment. Well, rub it off, sweetie! We don't want funny titties. We want heaving, aseptic, revolutionary titties. What's so revolutionary that heaving titties? This is a German film. Eichinger had good renaissance titties. The national television had basis titties. Have and think about the tradition you're a part of. The girl. I think that's shit. Do you think it's lovely? Terrible. Pug down! You could have stuff written on your titties. You could also have hired a woman over 40 we could have with black hair. Or gender swapping here. You're beautiful. He's a verile. Sex gorilla. End of story. Now lie down and get it. She does that again. I'll send her back. Can you give me her lighting on nomads land and bring the 650 up a bit? A bit higher? A bit again. Gloria tried out different empowerment strategies. I understand her approach, but not during my scene. Her choice of method was the exact mellow. Rather rustic. Flashback. Love scene. Release your feet. My dad pays for the catering. You always take two apple fritters. Since May, I've been on low carbs and promaga for my biceps. And she eats like a horse. It's not fair. She's sweating all over my costume. That's not sweat. It is. It's warm and wet. Gloria! And flashback. Love scene. She calls it pissing on the patriarchy. Honestly, you visited me in Malmo. We made a deal. It was that simple. Race. Class. I'll shoot your crap, but return the money. What? No. Yes. Flashback. Malmo. We're not showing that. Yes, we are. How it really was. Flashback. Restaurant. In this film, there'll be a shagging life. There's no tomorrow. Shagging for female power. The jackal doesn't actually mount her. He bows down as he licks. I'm in. The script was irredeemably shit. I only met Gordon because I was broke and hoping she'd buy me a mango daiquiri. But to persuade me, she'd actually learn a Lori Penny blurb by heart. If a woman like Gordon is reading neo-feminist books, then she's desperate. Desperation means room for negotiation. Under one condition, under one condition. You want me to get naked. Yes. Titty. Yes. With or without nipple. With 150,000. Is that a joke? 160,000. Another 150,000. With licking. With licking, 200,000. Will you do it without? Without the vaginal prosthesis. Without for another 500. Deal. The aspect restaurant logo. Back to showdown. You're earning 410,000 euros more than us? So until you're earning 410,150? Yes. To play the fuck bunny? That's right. Why are you throwing tampons at my head? Because I don't need the money anymore. How can you not need money anymore? After pink is a moist color, I got offered fuck bunny rolls in Germany. The girl is not a fuckman. She is a strong, sophisticated woman who compensates for her childhood trauma with bisexual escapism. That is totally 2017. I can name you 20 German films with strong, sophisticated women who compensate for traumas with bisexual escapism. And Fiat Gordon Swallow something up. And Fiat Gordon Swallow something up. And Fiat Theatre. Thanks. Place. That's irrelevant. I'm approaching 30. The parts I'm casting are changing from strong woman who compensates for her childhood traumas with bisexual escapism to police inspector for child, child and career. That's great. So I've written this script. Oh, please. Shut it, Jackie. A political rom-com with me in the lead role. An autistic politician falls in love with a rockabilly musician. They found a left-wing party left-wing party and smashed the system with Fender guitars. I had support from the German film board. What? But the ARD wanted to move the action to the Nazi period. The lead role was going to go to Nina Haas rather than me. And the band to be replaced with Max Robb and his palace orchestra because of its educational mandate. So I renamed the project his Billy Vende Lennen and submitted it to Swivel. Why are you Swivel? Really, Jackal? Really. Yes. Scene 15, Swivel, Saul. Gloria starts singing Melania Cratula Clark's Downtown. Gloria is the lead of the rest of the chorus. If Germany film industry has given you a hangover then you should go to Sweden. There they have seen a must-have reveal whether their films have the virtual test. The virtual test. They do it voluntarily I swear no one forces them. Fifty percent of all films are directed by women in Sweden. People in the world do so many women work in superior underwear. There's higher than in Germany and other humans. Maybe this isn't only due to the fact that Swedes fuck more often but also to Paula and Kristen and who the hell do we have? They're not Swedes. They're in 10,000 euros for the guitars. Then they saw pink as a moist color. I thought it was brilliant. But fuck bunnies don't correspond to Swedish cultural identity. They knew that 40% of German female characters have to show Blacka Brösten. That it's a structural guideline in filmmaking. Even so, stripping off is a symbol of the German cultural environment which manifests women's position in society as an object. Money from Swedish project funding can only go to artists who commit to the values of Swedish society. Super sad. We'll take it again from the top. Showdown, no tampons, no lines. Scene 16, showdown 2. Mahatma. And we go back to start. Quiet, please. We're filming. Sound. Rolling. Camera. Set. Marker. Whatever it is. Listen to it clear. How long until it explodes? 35 seconds. Did you hear that? He's coming. Where's the detonator? Tell me where it is. Oh! Jackal hits Mads flinches. I didn't flinch. That was the back swing. There comes the Chuck Norris Roundhouse punch. Again! Vengeance, but Mads. If a film is a gearbox then I was a small grain of Caribbean sand and Mads was more of a boulder from the Elvis Sandstone mountains. What's the problem? You shouldn't take such a big swing of this fist. It's a fight scene. Gordon remained diplomatic for the first 30 takes. Masculinity. This fight is his initiation. I've said it a thousand times. The important element in the construction of masculinity is Not being effeminate. Not being effeminate. Why? Because it's shitty being a woman. Again! Psychological. I just wanted to try it out on myself. Worst case scenario. And? It doesn't hurt. Are you balling now? No. Do you need an... Do I get some lines? Like that? Kicks Jackal in the stomach. That didn't hurt. Gordon consoles the Jackal erotically. What is that supposed to tell us? His paws getting too close. Even she's not afraid. Even she? He didn't give her a bruise during biceps training. He gave him a bruise. He gave him a bruise. Because he's a wily scavenger. And you're a helium cowboy. He's discriminating against me. Can he talk about discrimination? Come to terms with your genital primacy now. Shut up! It feels pretty uncool if I'm honest. Take your 410,150 euros and stick it up your ass. Ouch! I'm sleeping in a caravan. If your dad earns money with my titties, that's okay. He didn't mean it like that. I'm leaving now. What? I don't have the feeling that this is a safe space for me. That's not off. If she's allowed to leave, I'll go on strike until there's gender equity in the pet. Jackal wants to leave also. Wait! We're shooting the show now. You're all staying here. We know. I can't go back. I can't go back to where I don't want to go back. Where do you come from? Scene 17. Here. Don't touch us. We had no choice. You always have a choice. Everything suddenly made sense. For me, the film industry is new territory, but we might have noticed earlier that Gordon has different backgrounds. No offense. Flashback catering. Gordon sees the catering for the first time. It's the catering. She fills her pockets in mouth with salmon rolls. And flashback catering. We had to stop filming twice because Gordon had eaten too many salmon rolls. And the set always smelled like rotten fish and she was secretly stashing away the rolls in her excitement and then she'd forgotten where she put them. The excitement was more for show. Her style of directing had a theatricality to it. Flashback licking out scene Gordon and Mads observing the licking out scene in Washman. Gordon with salmon roll. Gordon angry with salmon in her mouth screaming to the top of her lungs. Not what. These are... You have to put on the headphones then you'll hear her. Remove the hair. It looks too old. And flashback licking out scene. None of us has experienced it, but there are enough eyewitness reports and the art is repetitive and it just leaves you speechless. Back to showdown. Why didn't you do anything? Things were different then. On summits weren't allowed to sleep. The actors were allowed to sleep. Every member of God ate three days per season when they didn't have to be reachable. Like shackles. Anyone wanting to leave the city had to put it in an application. Then permission was granted or it wasn't. What if the actors earned everybody's crime? The years of public property were we supposed to sue the city? Today we talk about the duty that you could have all gone on strike. There was no all. There was me and the 200 parasites who'd have done the job for half my pay. Have you ever had any regrets? Of course. It was bigoted. On stage we brought down capitalism. But we were exploiting our own people. Now you're in film because? Because of the money. 13 years now I want to be paid for my work. I want a trailer. Someone who drives me to the set and to feel a bit pampered for once in my life. I'm just a girl who loves Batman story. Scene 18, academicization. Okay folks. The Batman Rises is a fucking idiotic stereotypical reproduction service. We agree on that, don't we? No. And which of us is happy with their role? Me none of us. Obviously the broadcasters are putting on some kind of educational program. The goodies are white and the baddies are hairy and the women are blonde, slim and under 40. So why don't we start up a re-education program? Who actually believes in this simplified dichotomy of good and evil? What? Darth Vader? Luke Skywalker? Who watches that shit? The scripts are lousy. We're making art. We need more ambiguity. I thought Star Wars was good. Shut up. I think we should give the girl a name. Simone. Then we'll play a round and check your privilege. Who has the lead role in the most lines in this film as if it's their birthright? Please raise your hand. The white heterosexual cis man. I've been wanting to say that the whole time. Who thinks I should play the lead role from now on? Are you crazy? Your quota of words has been used up, sports fan. Let's make something performative with nice images. Jackal, take your biography and act it out. Look intimately into the camera and say, I've lived through this and that, and this is how I fared with this and that. What? That's marginalized knowledge. I'm interested in perspective. Why do you eat baby zebras? You're biographizing me? She biographized you. I'm making your story visible. I want to play the Batman. This film doesn't gain diversity if you deny your cultural identity. I come from genus Hexomia. Are you a woman? Are you a woman? No. Then why do you talk like a woman? That's cultural appropriation. I want him to whisper. Are we now fighting our fight on the back of whispering people? To a certain extent, the discussion was really fascinating. The erotic abundance. Their breasts have lost their shock value. But I want to show my tits. Let her show her tits. She wants my tits to be firm and aseptic. You don't want them at all. It lacks. Then at times there are too many Latin words and a sentence for me. You're vaginalizing yourself? I am not vaginalizing myself. In Stockholm body fever there are muscles. My dad said it was important to learn them because some muscles do have a name. Muscles that don't have a name aren't considered when working out and that's shit for the muscles. But also for the whole body. A performance entitled menstruation matters is not vaginalization. You can vaginalize yourself. Marina Abramovich was hanging off her labia in the mobile already 40 years ago. And still she earns 30% less than Neil Rock. That stupid asshole. What are you arguing about? I'm a woman. I'm not a jackal. And he will never know how that feels. Well you'll never know how it feels to be the son of a producer. Check your privilege, man. I won't act with him. I won't act with her either. The shoot is over. Scene 19 of The Batman Rises. No! Let's finish filming now. I don't know what you've got against Star Wars. What you're arguing about or who you want to make a reeducation film for but if those are your lines then only rich educated people will understand them. Sorry. I'm afraid of Jackie. I know it doesn't suit my role but he's jackal after all. I'm not a jackal. No I'm talking! You're all angry with me but that wasn't my choice. There's a pressure to the role. Playing the lead role is also a pressure and you cannot let the pressure show but my dad said if the film is a success then I can visit him in Stockholm. Now it's time to bitch showdown. The Batman finds his way back to the majestic essence of his masculinity. I can do it because I'm the Batman and there's Batman in me as there is an all boys as there is a girl in all girls that's kicked out by the jackal. I didn't choose my privilege but I am the producer's son and you all signed a fucking contract in which it states that I'm the hero here so you'll get saved and I'll lock your head off. That's why you're now going to get your unprivileged asses in a position and shoot the showdown with me in the lead role or I'll sue you all until I don't hear another peep out of you. Never mind this supplementary dental assurance Gordon. Yes. Do your fucking job. Go from the top. Quiet please, we're filming. Sound. Rolling. Camera. Set. Marker. And action. Where's the detonator? Dammit. Best to hit and flashback showdown. Scene 20. Emphasizing differences. Mads flinched again in the showdown. I had to realize eventually a true hero is not a hyper-masculine gladiator whose pain can't be visible. A true hero has to be allowed to be human. The soft will always defeat the horror. His Batman was the first of his kind and androgynous icon of sensitivity. Joke. We cast someone else for the showdown. Who's going to pay to see a castrated owl flinching? In the end, it's the audience that decides we are all human but who would deny there are differences. Differences between men and women, Mars and Venus, between races. Sark cultures. Whoever wants to move the masses has to emphasize these differences over and over again incessantly emphasize the differences. If you guys want for the discussion, we'll have a discussion and Sybil and Nora only if easy, only if easy. That was quite a tour de force and how this will be. This is fully staged and rehearsed and the jackal and mask and all of it. Again, fantastic and Sybil, thank you for staging this in as fast a time as the play is running and Nora thank you again for coming over and flying all the way from Berlin. Tell us about the play and where does it fit in your work? I wrote it. I wrote the play and yes, it was a play I did for the Gorky studio and we were searching a long time for the right theme or the right plot and then this idea occurred of making off because and I think you guys don't know that there was a movie, a German movie about a girl and a wolf and it was a pretty art house movie with a strong erotic connotation and it was for the theater, I don't know the English word for the cultural critics in Germany it was a huge hit and it was a very young very pretty actress acting out with a real wolf and and we were kind of I was sitting in Kreuzberg with a bunch of actresses that I used to work with almost every time so this is like my working family and in the process of pitching ideas to the Gorky we found that subject pretty interesting and then I told it to the Gorky and they liked the idea so I wrote this piece what did you discover writing the play? what did you discover writing and working with the ensemble on the play? what did you research and what came out of it? what surprised you? well I researched about this concept of toxic masculinity because we had this idea of the Jackal like being a now forsaken type of masculinity that's pushed aside but we needed so badly in our society back again so that was a direction of the research and then we had a workshop with the actors and actresses was like six, seven days I guess where we were just talking to them and listening to them because of course they had the expertise on German film business and we discovered but I wouldn't call it the discovery because I think the Gorky ensemble as well I pretty much knew it already that there is a lot of sexism and racism in the German film industry so yes that's what we dealt with and within your work is it one of your first plays or how did you connect to the Gorky and what is your history with this theater? it wasn't my first piece it was like I think the fourth piece but I knew Sherming Langhoff and Jens Hillier were director and co-director of the Gorky from the Bauhaus-Nau-Nuenstrasse which is a very small theater in Berlin Kreuzberg and they were working there before they got to the Gorky and I worked there as an actress and because I studied acting and they gave me the opportunity for the first time to write and to direct there at the Bauhaus and then we had a path I think for 7 years now together and working and yes growing together so I think the play successfully deals with gender and with slogans pop psychology and kind of empty phrases on the other hand it's very serious also it's a serious outcry I think in some way putting it out to the audience in Berlin or here what do you think of playwrights or theater makers work does what do you think what do you want to do with the play what do you hope for why do you write for theater well I mean the first impulse for me is most of the time being very angry about something so I can really get angry on publications or articles in the newspapers or stuff I see on TV and that most of the time makes me angry and then I talk to people and I'm very angry and then I think that might be something that's a good engine for me to write about and having studied acting in Germany and working in this scene like theater film television scene stuff that I think has to be changed so of course this was an idea for this play to like at least start thinking process about the status quo Sybil how did you how do you read the play and having not been to Munich or were studying acting in Munich or being at the Gorky so what sense do you make out of it well right away as soon as I picked it up like the performance energy of it was really strong and clear so I was not surprised when I found out that Nora is also an actor and the energies of all the characters were so clear it was no problem for me to immediately start thinking whose energy is this that I know here and who I work with in my own company who would match with so beautifully so that was the first thing and I also recognized not just anger but wrath for me and I wore my kalimah t-shirt today because I was like team spirit because that is also the energy of it like she's like and it's a it's exuberance the exuberance of its wrath and it's skewering of systems and of things that are so deeply wrong there is something so joyous and triumphant about that and also made me sad for us here in a way I was saying to these guys earlier that I remember when we would make satires like this when times were better like in the Clinton time it wasn't that nothing was wrong but we still we didn't I'm not sure I haven't quite worked it out yet but I recognized something in this like having so much fun and taking the ball and running with it in this way that is so free and making all of the the jokes that make us blush and the statements that make us blush and just let and sort of the grotesqueness of Gordon's character and of all the characters and sort of rolling in that in a way that is so much fun and we're having fun and we can't help it even though all of these terrible things are being said and demonstrated and it made me sort of see how much trouble we're in in our culture in our country right now because those jokes I wouldn't write like that because it's almost too painful there's something so direct about it that because the translation stuff was really interesting to me it was something we had a really good time with in rehearsing it and I don't know German but my experience of it having close friends and relationships with people who German is their language I've noticed sometimes my feelings get hurt when they don't mean to hurt my feelings and I think because it has something to do with the complexity of the German language and then the directness of the English language so that when and I'm not sure I'm guessing this it's something that I've observed a little bit but that when it gets translated into English something that wouldn't stab me as like insulting in German does in English because English is more direct so there was an element of that in here and I thought let's just go with it and actually I went back to another time in working with it and I'm looking at Eleanor because I've known Eleanor I think the longest like since we were much younger so but that was that was a big part of my experience with it How was it for the actors? How did that feel to take him? You know it felt good I think that the play is I mean at least my part is a it's there's a female fantasy element that you see like the male fantasies played out on screen and you know little less in theater but still in theater but that's the narrative that we're used to and I've been on the end of you know acting on TV and getting cast as like the rape victim the you know crazy lady who has to snort cocaine off of the toilet seat while somebody is trying to fuck her up like it's the auditions that I have gone on have been very much like it's all about that you know and it's like after a while I think then I hit a certain age and I got a part in a movie and the part was called middle aged woman and it was on my trailer that middle aged woman and so I think that you know coming from that world and knowing what is expected of women in you know of course there are there's a lot of great TV now and there are a lot of great roles but it's hard to get those roles and you have to do the other stuff too if you're not like an A-lister so reading you know her play and like it's kind of a female fantasy that you go on to a set and disrupt in a way like I would never do it but I see where that thought came from so for me it was fun the whole thing was just a lot of fun kind of a relief it's interesting because I love Sible dearly so I will say yes to sure whatever you need right and so then I read the script and I was like oh wow um but I think to add on to what Eleanor just said like it's so true I remember specifically um having a conversation with one of my uncles actually when I told him I was coming back to New York to live and I went to grad school he was like look Oshana you're going to have to be your own businesswoman because you're not going to get the roles and it was a hard whoa but it was honest and he was telling me out of love you know like I how many just recently I think actually for black actresses this is where it's a better time than it has been because we can name you know the Lapidas Rhonda Rhimes the writers and the actresses and there's still even just even though we have those few it's still a handful it's still one hand um and so this idea of being the no-name female actor in the script or in the movie it's like how many even movies can you think of where it's a male lead and then who's the female like she's there but she's the middle-aged lady or the pretty blonde she's only shown from the neck down on the poster or you know she's the one that you see getting up out the bed that's naked right so it was from that perspective also I really enjoyed the script with it with the short time that we've had it just really looking at the commentary from the inside but really not from the inside from the outside looking in but understanding because you're in that field that's what I really enjoyed about delving into this this piece it also dealt a little bit with the idea of film versus theater like they couldn't even pronounce it you know and we all of course think at least in Germany theater is kind of a higher cultural level than it is here but do you also feel it's changing the connotation is it so much better to work in film or is that just a joke in your no it's not a joke it's paid I mean this is like a strange thing to say because we had the discussion on I think Monday I think the German city theaters or state theaters they have the structure of an ensemble so they have actresses and actresses paid they have contracts for two or three years or more so I think it's something in comparison to here which is pretty good and secure and I think it's a good thing on the other hand still if you work in theater and so this whole issue of Gordon coming from theater and wanting to make money is a pretty personal thing for me as well because still if you work in theater especially in city theaters that aren't financed funded like with huge amounts of money you really work your ass off and you are not you know you still it's little and there are in these structures as well especially for the actresses and actresses it's really rude and really strict so that while these five days that we've been sitting around together with the ensemble talking this was just an issue that popped up all time again and again and again and again so I just put it in the play because I think it's relevant as well even though it's a little bit of introspection which is not always necessary but in this piece I thought it's okay to put it out there and to have the chiefs of the theater see it come and see it it's really historical the role of the man in the film or the role of a man in real life it's a symbolic representation of bodies on stage and how the way you question it and attack it and also able to laugh about it but also say it's a pretty cynical view of it that is close to a reality I think it really does what theater does it makes us think who we are where we come from and try to give meaning to our times how do you it feels as Xebel said an actor's play so how do you write it also in the gorky way with an ensemble to rehearse to your tape to your writer is it all on a piece of paper and you imagine it no I I it starts at most of the times with a theme so I have I know which theme or subject I want to write about and then I go into a research phase where I just read and watch stuff and go to the library so I put it all in here and then I have a concept so I know I'll have these characters and this might happen it's a very rough very rough concept and at that point most of the times the theater tell me or I know which will be my ensemble who act in this play and then I go to the theater with the concept and it depends on the structure sometimes we have one rehearsal one day for the making of it was huge amount of time it was like seven days where we just sit together and I start to get them into the boat and we improvise a little and we gather material and then I go back home and then the writing starts so then it's like two months hopefully most of the time I would like more why just sit and write and then we start rehearsals with the play it's there so it's not a classical work in progress thing the day the rehearsals start we have a play that's good we have a little bit close to time because 6.30 the next play starts I had so many more questions actually but maybe we have a bit of a light up and are there some comments or thoughts or something to say this is where I travel all the way from Berlin it's okay I take the mic I found it so refreshing that the female acting out was done in a very different way than the male acting out the bloody tampon was just a brilliant moment and it's just something that only a female I think could write and so that's also empowering for us and also just the sensitivity with which the male responded to that the kind of revulsion but also a kind of primal emotional response because it's outside the repertoire so I really appreciated that you explored behavior that's just not sanctioned that's just never seen thank you there's a lot of style in this play for one of a better word and I'm curious about just very heightened language kind of reminds me of some of those 1930s screwball comedies like 20th century or something where just this outrageous director but does the style play differently when you hear it in English in the translation than it was when it was done in Berlin actually not I think the ground structure of it like this is the satire this comedy works a lot about the rhythm so this is something I think that's same here and the energy felt the same we never struggled with what is the energy or what is it about or anything like that the whole time yeah so that the style thing didn't change for me what came to my mind when I heard it here is how many references I have to the American market I really didn't think about that while writing it because I didn't assume it would ever be read out here but that was something that popped up to me that it has another relevance here because in Germany I was guessing like some of them might get the Game of Thrones thing or something but I'm sure here it's a huge thing but no I think the structure is it works in both languages I think it's a comedy so people are laughing very pretty fast so are you a comedy writer at the Gorky or is that your tradition or does it happen to be a comedy yeah it happens to be all the subjects I deal with they all have the potential to be staged as a drama or written as a drama as well but I it would be very pedagogical pedagogical pedagogical if I would try to do that this humorous thing is the thing that comes to me intuitive it would be at least icing work in the American market where we are so fed up with all the action hero movies interesting movies that disappear and television took over with the long form series of narrative to tell complex stories and this is an attempt in a way to revitalize but I said well would you stage this or would you think your company would people come in New York what do you think is that is it asking too much of the audience the academic discourse is so funny dialogues that really go way over anything you would see you know I feel really curious about it and I was very everything we really only read it through one time we didn't have a lot of we made it through but it was you know and stopping and starting so I was still learning as I was watching what it is so I feel very curious about it and I would love a couple of months to yeah to really really get into it I think it's my kind of script the pace of it and the timing and how everything changes but also develops within these changes and the sliding backwards and forwards in time and with different configurations and then we'll go back and revisit I'm going to tell my version all right we'll go back and tell this version now there's so much to play with it and that thing that I said about doing a satire like a really harsh satire it's I don't see it happening so much these days I think like I said because of where we it's just not where we are but it sure was fun to mess around with it could be a great infusion of the idea that you should make methods like the cuts and backwards forwards you know flashbacks and all of it but maybe the Gorky we can convince them give us 50,000, 60,000 we would stage all six plays at the at the Arendale this is our offer if anybody helps us and you do it out of your travel budget or something but what are you working on now what's coming up right now I'm writing in Munich I know we left Berlin you went back I went back to Munich where I did write my first TV episode for a TV series with animals and I would have loved to strong man no it's about grief what a funny issue no it's about grief it's not a satire so I'm a staff writer so this is not my series there are like show runners and they just cast me into the staff and this is the first time I could do that and it was really like school for me for the first time so I will proceed in that direction but in like one year I'll do another play for the Gorky and then I'll do a play for theatre in Munich so it's going on fantastic well all the best thank you for coming it was a longer play but it was I think a great treat and so much energy in it and also a very serious subject in the way you treated it and try to communicate it also in telephone intelligent audience believing in it it is remarkable so thank you and in 20 minutes 22 minutes we have the next The Five Richter Play which is also a great one so thank you for coming and great applause thank you