Mr. Kolpert

I am stage managing for an Inspira Theatre Company production of MR. KOLPERT a play by David Gieselmann.  My friend Mike Monroe is directing the play.  He directed the American Premiere of the German play back in 2001, and we have had some great conversations about the meaning of the play being so different than when it was produced in 2001, at the University of South Florida.  For that production, the university flew in the playwright, David Gieselmann, who met with them, and offered his insights.  What has changed for American audiences is our meaning of violence since the 9/11 attack.  When Mike first directed this show, it was in a pre-9/11 mind state, and the meaning of the violence and the lessons from it are not entirely the same anymore.  The characters of the play commit violent and shocking acts because of boredom.  Then, as now, times were violent enough that a person would kill their boss, but not for the same reasons as today!  I have been reading about past productions, the play has been produced all over the world.  Apparently, it's message is one that every culture can interpret quite differently.  For example, in London, the question "but where did he get a gun?" doesn't get a laugh, like it does from American audiences.  In London, it's a valid question, although maybe not so much in Philly.  Also, there are several productions that shy away from the play's realistic portrayal of violence, instead stylizing the actor's movements, and presenting the entire scene as absurdist theatre.  

Here are two productions of Mr. Kolpert that I found on Youtube: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I7elpNaVN4
A trailer from a theatre production of Herra Kolbert (Herr Kolpert / Mr Kolpert) by David Gieselmann, directed by Jon Pall Eyjólfsson. A production of Leikfelag Akureyrar, Akureyri Theatre company, Iceland. www.leikfelag.is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1aevzsb37Q
a french production, MONSIEUR KOLPERT theatre du Rond-Point