“[MAYBE] - A TALE OF TWO CITIES” from Bavaria & South Africa is a production with comedic elements and a clear message about how different the problems of people in different cities are.
“[MAYBE] – A TALE OF TWO CITIES” is a one-hour theatrical production performed in english that uses a wide range of theatrical elements including language, singing, choir, facial expression, gestures, proxemics and dance. The play highlights the differences between the cities of Munich and Cape Town, showing the various living environments and the social classes.
In one of the Cape Town scenes the strong contrast between the rich and poor is portrayed. Particularly imposing was the depiction of the homeless people who walked through the audience begging for money and looking directly into the audiences eyes filled with profound sadness. This intensified the effect of empathising with the performance.
The first part of the play represents the city of Munich. Really clever was the story where everyone had the phone number of a famous person and was mistakenly called. The called person was initially confused but took the opportunity and pretended to be the celebrity. The scenes with the calls are humorously written and create an overall picture which can be found throughout the play.
With objects associated with homeless people, for example garbage bags, rhythmic sounds were created. Through the drums playing in the background the South African flair came across and due to the addition singing the atmosphere created a harmonious unity. The professional acting of the students guaranteed that the emotions were clearly visible at all times, even for some people in the audience with limited english skills, thanks to the expressive gestures and facial expressions.
Finally, there was a mixture of the social classes, because in the last scene an upper-class woman took care of a lower-class baby after her husband had advised her against it.
We thought that the play was very well done and we enjoyed watching it a lot. It had some comedic scenes and the message, how different the problems in the various cities are, was very clear.
The audience was enthusiastic about the play. There was applause during the play and after it was over, there were standing ovations from the audience, that lasted for a long time.
Merle Lankenau, Mika Schüler & Till Wirthmann (Alexander-von-Humboldt-Gymnasium Bremen)