Introduction with Professor Dr. Sylvia Sasse followed by a guided tour with the curators

The disappearance of theatre

We live in a time of paradox. Theatre directors such as Milo Rau demand a "global realism" or like Nikolai Prawdzic describe their projects with slogans such as, "when parliaments turn into theatres, theatres must become parliaments." This is their response to a form of politics, which has long since become theatrical, a spectacle even, and to a theatre dedicated to realism.

The theatricalisation of history and politics and the demand for realism can be observed particularly well in the Soviet Union of the 1920s. Even in 1920, when Nikolai Evreinov and other directors were to enact the "Storming of the Winter Palace," it was not entirely clear whether it was supposed to be a replication of history in the theatre or its fabrication in the theatre. It seems this was irrelevant for Evreinov, for he did not consider history, politics, and theatre to be opposing concepts. For him, the theatre could not be distinguished from life; it was simply another practice of life.

In her lecture, Dr. Sylvia Sasse will analyse the mass spectacle of the "Storming of the Winter Palace" and demonstrate how artists and theatre directors refer to it today.

After the lecture, Professor Dr. Sylvia Sasse and Dr. Inke Arns will give a guided tour of the exhibition The Storming of the Winter Palace.

The lecture will take place in the exhibition space on the 6th floor.