Four actors from an award-winning German mask theatre company will use 25 masks to play 29 characters in their latest production that will soon travel to India
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No words will be spoken as four actors from the Berlin-based German theatre company FamilieFlöz, present their latest production, Hotel Paradiso, in India. Started in 1994, the company has travelled to over 34 countries. Instead of dialogues, the company uses humour, masks, improvisation, mime and physical comedy to create family-friendly shows. Their latest offering is the story of a family who runs a hotel. The heavenly name and gorgeous location of Hotel Paradiso promises a relaxing get-away-from-it-all type holiday. However, all is not well in the time-honoured mountain resort kept alive with some difficulty by an old lady and her family. As the story progresses, the Alpine dream soon turns into a nightmare because the squabbling staff struggles to keep its secrets hidden. A corpse turns up causing the hotel’s staff and guests to get mixed up in turmoil of fatal events and the hotel’s decline seems inevitable.
Scenes from Hotel Paradiso
Staging the act
“I particularly like the conflict between the brother and sister in the play because I have two brothers and two children (A son and one daughter). The production is a dramatic nightmare steeped in black humour with a hint of melancholy. It’s the most vicious and mysterious play we have staged,” shares director Michael Vogel. The four actors will adorn 25 masks and play 29 characters to tell the story. “The masks are a substitute for words. The dialogue consists of action and reaction of the body. For me, it is not difficult, because I really like working without words,” says Vogel.
“The masks are made from papier-mâché,a malleable mixture of paper and glue, or paper, flour and water, that becomes hard when it dries. It is also used to make boxes, trays or ornaments. First, the negatives are made, then, five layers of papier-mâché are coated on top of it,” shares producer, Gianni Bettuci. “The costumes have been created in a way that are easy to change. For example no buttons have been used. They are inspired from movies in the ’60s,” he adds.
Team talk
The troupe’s four members, Björn Leese, Benjamin Reber, Hajo Schüler and Markus Michalkowsk, create each production as a collaboration. “Every production is a collective effort where all performers also engage as the authors of their characters and situations. In countless improvisations, the group works around its self-chosen theme and collects dramatic material, before the masks come into play. Similar to working with text, the masks bring not only form with them, but also content. First, we brainstorm among ourselves and then improvise based on the audience,” says Vogel. “Hotel Paradiso is imaginative, and every spectator sees his own story. The characters are ones that people from across the world can identify with. Themes of love, indifference and journey have the same significance across cultures globally. The masks too are a universal means of theatre,” he adds.
Michael Vogel
Presented by AGP World, the Indian premiere of the play will take place in New Delhi on October 27, followed by Bengaluru, Mumbai and Chennai. “We changed quite a few things after the premiere. When we play in India for the first time, we might make spontaneous changes too,” says Vogel.
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