Name: 3. Festival of the new political song
Start: 2024-09-13
End: 2024-09-15
Location: Theater Ost

3rd Festival of the new political song under the motto "If you want peace, you must think peace". In addition to the stage program, exhibitions, a book table, etc., as well as music, food and drinks await you all the time in the outdoor area or in the theater lounge. As always, the theater opens one hour before the start.

KEY VISUAL 3. Festival des neuen politischen Liedes

FRI., 13.09.

6:00 p.m.

"The musically surprising Brecht" / A prelude to the performance

8:00 p.m.

"Fear & Misery according to Bert Brecht" (in-house production Theater Ost)

This in-house production is not only based on the texts of Bertolt Brecht's work "Fear and Misery of the Third Reich", but also on contemporary testimonies such as hits from the 1930s and 1940s and, above all, on the sounds of this period before the outbreak of the Second World War, which was so marked by fear, exclusion and expulsion.

Why "Fear and Misery?" The original title, "Germany - a horror story," shows the tradition in which Brecht wanted this piece to be placed. He saw the conditions in the "Reich" with the keen eye of the emigrants and described them with succinct, realistic precision. In an almost naturalistic way, Brecht shows ways of thinking, methods of oppression and control and the behavioral forms initiated by them, which document the appalling lack of dignity of a people, but also show how people's behavior comes about. Parallels to the present day and the state of our country are not only appalling, but intentional and worrying.

Can history repeat itself? "Those who do not remember history are condemned to live it anew" (quote from the Spanish philosopher George Santayana at the entrance to Block 4 in the Auschwitz concentration camp)

And when we saw them leaving,

we shouted loudly:

Does none of you say no?

You must not remain quiet!

The war they are driving you into

cannot be yours!

An attempt to send a signal against growing anti-Semitism, racism, nationalism, xenophobia, warmongering, but also against anti-democratic politics and propaganda.

Director: Kathrin Schülein

Stage: Max Richter

Starring:

Matthias Jahrmärker, Mattis Nolte, Inga Bruderek, Caroline Siebert

Sat., September 14th

1:00 p.m.

Film and discussion with Michael Schmidt “Murmansk Exclusion Zone”

In 2003, the Federal Republic of Germany and Russia agreed to work together to protect the world from an environmental catastrophe. In the bays of the Barents Sea north of Murmansk, the shining legacy of the Cold War had been rusting away for years - submarines that not only carried nuclear missiles, but were also powered by nuclear reactors. Together with Russian partners, reactor specialists from Greifswald-Lubmin were given the task of defusing this ticking time bomb. As a result, 120 nuclear submarines were disposed of - one of the largest East-West disarmament projects. Even then, however, hardly any national notice was taken of it. And today, German politicians in particular no longer want to be reminded of this episode of successful cooperation with Russia.

NDR reporter Michael Schmidt accompanied the project for twelve years. He was the only German journalist who was granted regular access to the exclusion zone over such a long period of time. His television reports and his book prove that a partnership with Russia is not easy, but not impossible either. It is time to remember this.

Presenter: Dietmar Ringel

3:30 p.m.

Ernst Busch Choir

The Ernst Busch Choir is a mixed Berlin senior citizens' choir with around 60 singers that has existed since 1973. Since it began as a veterans' choir, it has maintained the tradition of the workers' singing movement, which has its roots in the liberation struggles of previous centuries.

Against this background, the choir was named after the singer and actor Ernst Busch in 1983. With his powerful, convincing performance skills and his humanistic commitment, he is both a role model and an inspiration for the choir singers. Since 1995, the choir has given a major concert every year in honor of its namesake.

Ernst Busch's songs - many of them written by Bertolt Brecht and Hanns Eisler - are an integral part of the repertoire, which now includes more than 300 songs from all over the world and is performed in around 15 concerts a year. In around ten languages, the choir sings of peace and solidarity, hope, indignation, grief and the fight for social justice. But contemporary songs of joie de vivre and classical musical heritage are also part of the program.

Under the motto "If you want peace, you must think peace!" of the 3rd Festival of New Political Song, we raise our voices in the fight against war and injustice, for a peaceful, just and democratic world.

5:30 p.m.

Concert Jörg Endesfelder/ Arne Spekat "The Dream of Peace"

Protest movements in the West and East have produced a considerable wealth of music that reflects the longing for peace. The duo "Endesfelder and the Weather Bass", well-known interpreters of chansons and rock songs from the 1960s onwards, presents their own view of this wealth. Important pieces are by: Gundermann, Wegner, Demmler, Manger, Bécaud, Wenzel and others

The performers:

Jörg Endesfelder - guitar and vocals

Arne Spekat - bass, guitar, flutes, concertina, vocals

8:00 p.m.

Concert Lacoste Trio "Puente de Paz - Bridge of Peace"

Alejandro Soto Lacoste - He has lived in Germany as a multi-instrumentalist and composer since 2005. Live, he presents a fusion of his two latest albums "Puente de Luz" (Bridge of Light, 2020) and "El derecho de vivir" (The Right to Live in Peace, 2023).

This program presents original songs by Alejandro Soto Lacoste and songs by the Chilean composer Victor Jara. Soto Lacoste has been building bridges between his native Chile and his adopted homeland Germany for almost 20 years. The connection and collaboration with German artists such as Tino Eisbrenner, Heiner Lürig or Aurora Lacasa, as well as the constant contact with his Chilean colleagues (Inti-Illimani, Manuel García, Nano Stern) are of great importance to him.

The program is permeated by the idea of a bridge between the dreams of peace and freedom that Jara sang about in the sixties and the new compositions of Latin American artists who respond to the events of their time. The themes are the same: peace, justice, equality. A bridge of peace (Puente de Paz) that connects across generations and other borders.

Soto Lacoste is accompanied by the two great Chilean musicians Ernesto Villalobos (pan flute, flutes, guitar) and Greco Acuña (percussion). In this trio formation, the typical sounds of Latin America (Andean flute, Argentine bombo legüer drum, guitar and nostalgic and passionate singing) enter into a dialogue with elements of rock and jazz. In addition to original music and pieces by Victor Jara, the repertoire also includes classics from Chile and Latin America as well as songs by Lennon and McCartney or German composers, which always have a place in his concerts.

Although most of the lyrics are in Spanish, there is a fluid dialogue between the artist and the audience, allowing the latter to become an active part of the poetic and musical experience and take a piece of Latin America home with them in their hearts. In short, guests experience a journey through Latin American music, a bridge full of sounds, colors and poetry.

Sun., September 15th

1:30 p.m.

Film “I was 19”

DEFA 1968 Director: Konrad Wolf

Followed by a discussion with the audience

4:30 p.m.

“Songcarré”

A joint song cycle by Tino Eisbrenner, Hartmut König and Jens Fischer-Rodrian with guitar reinforcement by Uwe Fischer. Three bards from different generations and socializations come together for a musical chat in which they play music individually and together, listen to each other and respond with songs - unrehearsed, following the feeling of the moment.

7:30 p.m.

"Art is a weapon" - discussion

Musicians in conversation about the times and the present, war and peace and the role of art - with Hartmut König, Jens Fischer Rodrian, Andrej Hermlin and Tino Eisbrenner

Moderation: Dietmar Ringel

(PROGRAM IN GERMAN)

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