Schauspielhaus Graz
Is this still a musical or already grotesque?
Israeli playwright Yael Ronen is back at Schauspielhaus Graz: Felix Hafner directs the Austrian premiere of "Slippery Slope" as a colorful exaggeration, Sandy Lopičić provides the musical background for the "almost-musical". In its entirety, the experiment only succeeds in parts.
Cultural appropriation, #metoo, cancel culture: Israeli playwright Yael Ronen's "Slippery Slope" - which premiered at the Gorki Theater in Berlin in 2021 - packs all of these themes into a show with music by Shlomi Shaban, Yaniv Fridel and Ofer Shabi. Under Anna Badora's directorship, audiences in Graz got to know Ronen, and now her "almost-musical" has been put in the hands of Felix Hafner and Sandy Lopičić - neither of whom are unknown names at the theater.
Gustav, a Swedish singer, strolls through the world and draws on the cultural heritage of Bedouins, Sami and Roma. Željko Marović plays and sings him as a volatile, exaggeration-prone tease who soon falls in love with a young Romni: with a curvy silhouette and bright voice, Sky (Luiza Monteiro) appears in his life and becomes the world musician's muse and lover. What really happened when they met? Was she 18 or 20? Did she pull him into the dressing room or was it the other way around? In short, who is taking advantage of whom?
Grandiose and/or moronic
From there, a wild ride of (grandiose) nonsense follows, always with an undercurrent of discourse on political correctness: Sky goes viral as a colorful, shiny synth-pop star. Sarah Sophie Meyer appears as Gustav's wife and editor-in-chief with skeletons in her closet. Her celebrated journalist Stanka (Anna Rausch) meets a (not so feminist) porn actress who commits suicide after her revelation, and in the end Tim Breyvogel tries to save what's left with a PR ballet.
Musically, things are just as crazy as they are scenically: Sandy Lopičić and his band perform revue numbers, TikTok pop and Balkan ballads in equal measure. The ensemble put up a brave vocal fight, with Luiza Monteiro a bright spot.
It's a "slippery slope"
You need strong nerves on this slippery surface to avoid slipping: Felix Hafner, known for his highly political plays, stages the "almost-musical" on the edge of the grotesque and often on the edge of pain. Elisabeth Weiß dresses the ensemble in Y2K style, oversized mesh and bed linen. On stage, the oversized ring light, as influencers like to use it, becomes a halo: algorithm, show us the way!
Yes, the musical genre thrives on exaggeration, clichés and a certain flatness - the best moments are those in which Hafner makes the most of this. In other places, the slapstick drowns out the very undercurrent that is actually the point.
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