Long live the Drama
“Wave upon wave has crashed about us, but we’ve remained.” This is one of the most striking lines of the first chorus in David Greig’s play “Europe”. It is also one of the lines that the ensemble of Münster’s English Drama Group (EDG) delivers to the empty Studio Stage (Studiobühne) auditorium during a rehearsal on a warm, late-summer evening. It could be a line that sums up the group’s own long and eventful history – and which also applies to Iris Adamzick. As director, she is in charge of the rehearsals and the upcoming performance of “Europe”.
This is by no means the first EDG production that Iris Adamzick has been involved in and helped organise. She has been part of the theatre group since 1983 (with a few brief interruptions). A few days after moving to Münster from eastern Westphalia and commencing her studies, the English and German studies major enquired with her departmental student body about opportunities to act at the University of Münster. She was directed to the EDG, founded in 1974, and she immediately showed up at a rehearsal. She had acting experience and had already been on stage at the age of eleven. “I can still see myself playing Till Eulenspiegel with tights on my head,” says the Münster resident with a laugh, while the ensemble warms up in the background and walks through the auditorium, following her steady stream of directions. “Ever since I went to my first rehearsal, the group has had a big influence on my life.”
Iris Adamzick, of all people, is a little uncomfortable to be in the spotlight for this article. “I now prefer to work in the background,” she explains, pointing out several times that the EDG doesn’t have a real manager, but that everything is done on equal footing and the productions are created together. In keeping with the English stage language, Iris Adamzick says: “There’s no place for a diva.” Not surprisingly, English is the language of choice throughout the evening. In addition to the English-language play being rehearsed on stage, most of the agreements, instructions and conversations are conducted in English. Everyone seems to be comfortable with the foreign language and with each other and can therefore smoothly include those whose native language is not German.
After warming up, the “cast”, as the ensemble is called here, takes to the stage. The first chorus is due to rehearse. There should actually be eight performers on stage, but a few members are missing today. Iris Adamzick and another member of the group therefore speak their lines so that the other actors can practise their text.
Following the chorus, the “Departure” scene is up next. Three actors appear on stage as the characters Billy, Berlin and Horse, imitating a bus stop with three chairs. Billy is waiting for a bus to take him away from the nameless little town on the edge of Europe. He sees no prospects for himself there and wants to try his luck elsewhere. The scene is about friendship and parting, immigration and xenophobia, dreams for the future and the desire to return one day with his own Mercedes and show his old friends that he has made it. “Refugees desperately seeking protection; neo-fascists roaming the streets; a country threatened by chaos: when you read the play, it’s hard to believe that it was published in 1994. We’re performing it today because it is a passionate plea for a peaceful and united Europe,” explains Iris Adamzick.
The director instructs the actors on stage to explore the characters and their motives. She wants the scene to be “somewhat melancholy and funny at the same time”. The actors think over what they’ve discussed, start from the top and rehearse individual elements again and again. They make a steady progress, the mood is good.
Afterwards, the actors prepare to rehearse another scene that requires a set change. This gives Iris Adamzick the chance to tell more about herself and the EDG, which is made up of students and professionals of different ages. “We want to celebrate the premiere of our play during the Studio Stage festival week. The schedule is tight,” she admits. Nevertheless, she is confident that everything will work out. She and EDG have already gone through a lot. In the past, the connection to the English department was very close, and they didn’t have to worry about new talent or audiences for a long time. “We are still doing quite well, but the coronavirus pandemic in particular has seriously jeopardised the continued existence of the group,” explains the director. “And yet we’ve been rehearsing every Thursday evening for 50 years in the Studio Stage, our home theatre, which allows us to be ‘a very professional amateur theatre’. At least that’s what others say about us,” says Iris Adamzick, not without a tinge of pride.
She herself has played a significant part in this. As a teacher of English, German and drama at a comprehensive school in Havixbeck, she actually already has her hands full. “Sometimes I think I'm crazy to spend my free evenings and weekends, which I would need for corrections and lesson preparation, at and with the theatre. But the EDG means a lot to me. It’s great to work with people and to be artistically active,” explains Iris Adamzick. At the same time, she hopes that someone else will take on more responsibility and lead the EDG into the future. Until then, however, she will probably remain loyal to her theatre group – and tackle the next play, the next rehearsal and, like now, the next scene this evening when darkness has already fallen.
Author: André Bednarz
Performance dates:
7 November, 8 pm: “Europe” by David Greig (premiere), English Drama Group, Studio Stage, Domplatz 23
FESTIVAL WEEK:
The Studio Stage team has organised a week of festivities to mark its 75th anniversary. From 3 to 10 November, visitors can look forward to a wide variety of more than 20 plays, film screenings, narrative art, radio plays and concerts. The festival opens on Monday, 4 November at 7 pm with welcoming and keynote speeches by Vice-Rector Prof Dr Michael Quante, Dean Prof. Dr Eric Achermann and Prof Dr Katerina Stathi. This will be followed at 8 pm by a solo piece based on Nadine Kegele’s “Eidechsen bleiben zu Hause bei Schlechtwetter”.
Excerpts from the programme:
3 November, 6 pm: “Schöne Fremde, K.I.”, theatre en face6 November, 8 pm: “Mario and the Magician” based on Thomas Mann, Theater en face & Marion Bertling 6 November, 10 pm: Faces of the Studio Stage – a film by Dennis Kail and Simon Richard7 November, 7 pm: From the Studio Stage to the world of film, television and theatre. A panel discussion, moderated by Dr Elisa Franz8 November, 6 pm: Long Night of the Studio Stage with four productions 9 November: International recitation competition “Erich Kästner”, public event starting at 8 pm (with audience prize)10 November, 8 pm: Momo’s Footsteps, concert with Michael Mond
The complete programme can be viewed online. Tickets can be booked by emailing rhetorik@uni-muenster.de.
This article is from the University newspaper wissen|leben No. 6, 2 October 2024.