"Poetry not written for the stage can certainly enthrall an audience; all you need is a good performer. But problems always arise when poetry is turned into theater with more than one character. How do you move outside the mind of the poet ó that blazing single consciousness ó without giving up intensity? How do you use set design, movement and music? How do you make them as precise as the poet's meters and metaphor?"(nytimes:arts:Ginsberg and His Mother, From a Poem to a Play)
Heart Play
My thoughts are wounds in my head. My brain is a scar. I want to be a machine. Arms to drag legs to walk no pain no thinking. (Heiner Müller , 'Hamletmachine' ) Heartplay A May I lay my heart at your feet. B If you don't make a mess on my floor.. A My heart is clean.. B We'll see, won't we.. A I can't get it out.. B Would you like me to help you.. A If you wouldn't mind.. B It'll be a pleasure. I can't get it out either.. A cries. B I will remove it surgically. What have I got this penknife for anyway. We'll have this sorted out in no time. work will keep you from despair. Right, there we are. But this is a brick. Your heart is a red brick.. A Yes, but it beats only for you.. (1981) A beats B to death with the brick.. (Addition, July 1991). ------------- Heiner Müller ----------------- from Heiner Müller Theatremachine translated and edited by Marc von Henning
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