Florian Felix Weyh

Massbach
Übungsstück für eine Schauspielschülerin zur Vorbereitung auf die ZBF-Bühnenreifeprüfung
1 D, 1 Dek
Weyh’s “Exercise for a trainee actress in preparation for the ZBF Stage Test” is a 19-minute, 19-second showpiece for an actress and a dignified old man. In 37 episodes, the actress can demonstrate her virtuosity in artistry, speech, musicality and the portrayal of human emotion – whether as an audition, or on the stage in front of a real audience as a play within a play.
A plane crash is simulated. The actress embodies all the possible people involved, be it the captain or the lisping passenger, the salesman or the feminist. From ‘action’ to ‘devotion’, ‘panic’, ‘pathos’ and ‘ham-acting’: nearly every emotion is put on show in the course of the catastrophe. What emerges is more than just an amusing play on materials and forms: as is fitting for a final scene, truths are also unearthed – and the play takes a dig at the cultural sector and human weakness.
From the author’s “Directions”
“Massbach doesn’t need a lot of technical effort and can, if circumstances so dictate, be performed in the director’s living room. In this case, you will need to add 10 red roses to the props list for the director’s personal assistant.”