One of the highlights of your editor’s current tour of the European theatre scene is this stellar event.
More than a decade ago, Berlin launched what would become a cultural sensation: the Long Night of Museums, in which the city’s museums stay open late twice a year. The nights have been such a rousing success that the plan has been copied in 120 cities.
Now the German capital’s performing-arts world is giving the concept a go. On Saturday, April 25, from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., 50 of Berlin’s stages will present a dizzying array of artistic fare during the First Long Night of Opera and Theater.
Starting from the event’s hub and headquarters on eastern Berlin’s Bebelplatz, shuttle buses will take visitors along seven different “theater routes” every 10 or 15 minutes — just in time for performances in disciplines ranging from classical theater and opera to dance, readings and cabaret. All venues are accessible with a single 15-euro ticket (15 euros if bought the day of the festival), and most shows are half an hour to an hour long.
Highlights include big-band numbers from the Berlin production of “The Producers” at the Art Deco venue Admiralspalast, and the Kabarett-Theater Distel’s “Beyond Angela,” a show that challenges Angela Merkel, the current German chancellor, in song and satire. On a more serious note are scenes from Goethe’s “Faust,” presented at the Deutsches Theater, and excerpts from Thomas Mann’s “The Magic Mountain” on stage at the critically acclaimed Maxim Gorki Theater.
Much of the lineup is in German, but there’s plenty for those who don’t understand the language: The English Theater in Berlin presents a selection from English-language plays, including Edward Albee’s “Three Tall Women,” and dancers from the State Ballet Berlin perform a set of new works.
Opera fans can hear samples of “The Magic Flute,” at the State Opera Unter den Linden, or, just up the street, arias and intermezzi from Verdi’s oeuvre, sung “salon style” at the Komische Opera. There’s even a night of Brazilian dance at the popular Hebbel am Ufer.
Those who want to keep the spirit going after midnight should head back to the event’s official after-party at the Admiralspalast and take a spin in a dance hall that dates back to 1910.
“We’re excited to see what happens,” said Gabriele Miketta, an event spokesperson. “Even regular theatergoers have been surprised about Berlin theaters they didn’t know about yet and now want to visit.”
