National Theater Mannheim
Premiere 23.05.2025 – based on the novel by Robert Menasse | World Premiere
A united Europe and the European Union are great ideas. But how relevant are they? What will become of the people who want to build a common Europe? And how is this possible if they can barely agree on what this EU should look like?
Director: Anna-Elisabeth Frick
StageMartha: Marie Pinsker
Music: Hannes Strobl
Choreography: Ted Stoffer
Costume: Sophie Lichtenberg
Lighting: Daniel Scheunemann
Dramaturgy: Annabelle Leschke
Adam Prawdower, Leon Kongoli: Maria Helena Bretschneider I Ismail Lani, Mateusz:Paul Simon I Piotr Szczęsny, Baia Muniq Kongoli:Rocco Brück I Karl Auer, Fate Vasa: Maria Munkert I ZK, Ylbere Lenz: Sandro Šutalo I Narrator, Ship’s Doctor: Matthias Breitenbach
Music excerpts :
Musical Concept by Hannes Strobl
The music for the theatrical performance Die Erweiterung, based on the novel by Robert Menasse, is grounded in a process-oriented engagement with site-specific sound material. At its core lies the work with field recordings made in various geocultural locations featured in the narrative, as well as along the route of the ship SS Skanderbeg in the Mediterranean region. A particular focus is placed on recordings from Albania, which are not only acoustically but also culturally formative for the musical language of the evening.
These field recordings are not used merely as documentary material but serve as an analytical point of departure. Their spectral, rhythmic, and tonal properties are examined, systematically extracted, and transformed into compositional parameters. The structures derived from this analysis form the basis for both instrumental and electronically generated sound material, which remains closely connected to the sonic signature of the original recordings. In this way, musical textures emerge that carry forward concrete acoustic traces in an abstract, aesthetically condensed form.
In some compositions, the original field recordings have been completely removed. What remains are instrumental and electronic structures directly derived from the analyzed parameters. Even without making the original audible, these pieces retain its sonic DNA: atmosphere, rhythm, color, and spatial characteristics remain perceptible on an abstract level.
A central sonic element is the Albanian iso-polyphony – a traditional vocal practice characterized by close harmonies and microtonal intervals. The performers bring this vocal form to the stage live, embedding it directly into the scenic space. This creates a connection between archaic vocal culture and contemporary music theatre – physically tangible, sonically condensed, and spatially effective