BACK TO BERLIN
The Other Room Theatre at Porter’s, Cardiff
Tue 3 Mar
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The rise and fall of the Berlin Wall was a defining moment not only in German but worldwide history. In the new company CB4 Theatre’s Back to Berlin, we are taken on a one-hour ride, where writer Luke Seidel-Haas recreates his father Bernhard’s trip back to Berlin right after the Wall fell. It’s 9 November 1989 and a young Bernhard, played by Seidel-Haas, has relocated to the UK and now has a wife and young son.
Clever use of sound has us hearing David Bowie’s Heroes, US President Ronald Reagan commanding Soviet leader Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall!” in 1987, and a snippet of Nena’s 99 Luftballoons. He turns on the TV to see the start of the Wall being dismantled and East Germans pouring through the checkpoints. Thoughts of his heimat – his homeland – overwhelm him, and he realises he must be a witness in person during this pivotal moment. So starts his frantic search to book a plane seat. Despite being raised in West Germany and studying at uni in West Berlin, he has always considered himself just German.
Although Seidel-Haas is the lead actor, this is an ensemble piece. Emily Pearce, Alice Rush and Frankie-Rose Taylor – also co-founders of CB4 Theatre – appear before, during and after Bernhard’s journey. They’ve done an admirable job with an almost non-existent budget and cardboard boxes, especially during the funny reservation-seeking scene. Also imaginative is their use of mortar boards while giving a short demonstration of post-WW2 Germany’s division in the first of several scenes where they address the audience. Other examples, such as hearing Seidel-Haas’ father’s recorded voice, add an even more personal touch. The only hiccup was the limp conclusion: an overlong singalong and a modern timeline encompassing a lot, where more about Bernhard and his thoughts and experiences would have been welcomed.
Back to Berlin asks what it is to be part of a community, a nation, along with shifting borders, alliances, differences and prejudices. It questions the rights of people who weren’t living in the communist East to pass judgement on those who actually were. Sure, those of us, like Bernhard, who did flock to the newly opened Berlin in those heady, early days partied hard, too. How many celebrants, though, saw the crosses and various commemorative markers where at least 140 people were killed or died in other ways connected to the murderous GDR government, while trying to escape East Berlin? Or noticed the dour faces of Germans at Checkpoint Charlie having to return to the Ostside after spending a day in the West?
This young and enthusiastic Cardiff-based company is off to a promising start with their debut production, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It’s arrived from the sell-out 2019 Voila! Europe Festival in London, and now at The Other Room as part of its current Spring Fringe programme.
words RHONDA LEE REALI photos DALI MIA POULSOM
Back to Berlin is at The Other Room Theatre at Porter’s until Fri 6 March. For tickets and info about the other Spring Fringe productions, click here.