(Posted Oct 2, 2005)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – "People are watching themselves in the mirror of the others," we are told repeatedly during the Theater Magdeburg/Tennessee Repertory Theatre production of DAS TREFFEN - THE OTHER SIDE.

That thought, like this ground-breaking transatlantic work, is simple at its core but profound in its effect. Playwrights von Thomas Oberender and Sebastian Orlac, along with their technical and artistic collaborators, have created a piece of theatercraft which touches our hearts and engages our minds with its basic humanity.

DAS TREFFEN has been in development for two years at Theatre Magdeburg. The company designed the multimedia simulcast to honor the German city's 1,200th anniversary. Nashville, Magdeburg's sister city since 2001, joined the project through Tennessee Repertory Theatre, which sent actors Brooke Bryant, Marin Miller, Mark Cabus, Richard A. Northcutt and Brian Russell to Germany earlier this year for six weeks of rehearsals with German actors Anna Hertz, Annett Sawallisch, Bernd-Michael Baier, Josip Culjak and Robert Neumann.

The show's set-up involves audiences in Magdeburg and Nashville viewing images of each other through a live hook-up while actors sit in their midst, relating stories and statements from ordinary people. The Nashville audience hears the American actors speak while watching their German counterparts and other members of the Magdeburg audience, and vice versa.

The words in DAS TREFFEN deal with a variety of situations at various stages of life. While some monologues are quite memorable - the aftermath of a desperate jobseeker's decision to kidnap a rival is a good example - all of the speeches, statements and songs heard during the performance serve the same unifying purpose.

Director Markus Dietz has masterfully melded actors' images and voices into whole characters, a remarkable feat considering the differences in language and the technical demands placed on the top-notch cast. Video director Oliver Iserloh and his technical colleagues also deserve praise for putting live and recorded sights and sounds together in a seamless stream.

Let's hope this unique theatrical event isn't the only collaboration between Theater Magdeburg and Tennessee Repertory Theatre. Their interaction enriches both organizations, but more importantly, it enriches the lives of theatergoers in both communities. 

How does it do that? Simple. It reminds us of a basic, but often overlooked, truth: Our lives may play out in different parts of the globe, but our shared humanity, with all its nobility and all its flaws, links us across vast distances.  Strengthening that link through such exchanges as DAS TREFFEN may prove vital as the 21st century continues.

To See The Show...

DAS TREFFEN - THE OTHER SIDE ended its run at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and Schasupielhaus Magdeburg on Oct. 1. For more information on these groups, visit Tennessee Repertory Theatre's website by clicking here and Theater Magdeburg's website by clicking here.