Premiere of TARO.CAPA.X – A Long Exposure, a puppet theatre production at the Schaubude Berlin
Premiere of “TARO.CAPA.X – a long exposure”, a puppet theatre production at the Schaubude Berlin Schaubude Berlin. At the weekend, we were at the Schaubude Berlin to attend the premiere of Christiane Zeides. A puppet show that I found truly special.
I have rarely experienced a story about war and all that goes with it more intensely than I did here. It brought back many memories, which I am fortunately now better able to process than I used to be.
A brief account of how the collaboration came about: Last year, Christine Zeides sent me an email asking if I would be willing to talk to her about my experiences as a war photographer, which was also to be documented on film.
I agreed, we met and then spoke for over six hours. Excerpts from this interview were then projected onto the stage, so you could hear my voice.
And you could see my face as I spoke. In addition, two other war photographers (Ursula Meissner and Andy Spira) were interviewed, and their contributions were incorporated into the piece in the same way. Together with the life stories of Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, their love story and their lives as war photographers during the Spanish Civil War, this developed into a dialogue I hadn’t anticipated.
TARO.CAPA.X – a long exposure’, puppet theatre production
Gerda Taro and Robert Capa were working as photographers during the Spanish Civil War. They documented destruction, death and suffering at close quarters. In their work, they navigate the line between responsible reporting and artistic empathy. The play “TARO.CAPA.X” reflects on the power of images and pays tribute to the courage of all those who – then as now – bear witness to the cruelty of war through their cameras.
Especially in the times we are currently living in, I find such a performance important. A play well worth seeing.
During the performance, you could have heard a pin drop, such was the intensity of the piece. At the end, there was a post-performance discussion with Ursula and myself, which, due to the many questions from the audience, went well beyond the planned duration of half an hour. It was a special experience for me to come into such close contact with my own history again, so long after my active time as a documentary photographer.
The play will be performed at the theatre festival in Rostock this summer.
