Postponed twice due to the pandemic, The Queen Commanded Him to Forget is now finally ready for its premiere in the Pierre Boulez Saal. Based on a novel by Lebanese writer Elias Khoury and with music by the Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, the internationally acclaimed director Ofira Henig and actor and dramaturg Khalifa Natour are bringing their production to one of Berlin’s more distinctive stages, architecturally speaking. Most recently, Henig’s productions of “The Bees’ Road” and “Kind of” were brought to the Schaubühne’s Festival Internationale Neue Dramatik. Now she is using the elliptical shape of the Frank Gehry-designed Pierre Boulez Saal to completely abolish the separation between stage and audience, thus enabling direct contact among the cast and theatergoers. The play challenges boundaries between theater, music, poetry and cultures and explores how language affects dominant narratives and power. It will be a show where creativity, multiculturalism and education combine – with inspiring results.
Text: Alison Musch / Photos: Monika Ritterhaus & Gerard Alon / Credit: Pierre Boulez Saal
Pierre Boulez Saal, Französische Str.33D, 10117 Berlin–Mitte; map
The Queen Commanded Him to Forget, 30.09–02.10.2022 18h
@boulezsaal
