Spleen is a kaleidoscope of pictures, songs and miniatures, inspired by Charles Baudelaire’s collection of poems in prose „Le Spleen de Paris“, which was published posthumously in 1869. Mankind on the threshold to modernity is described in the scenes played out between thirst for life and longing for death, between a romantic search for infinity and a brutal triviality. The play is open in this production: the performers are on the stage with puppets and musical instruments, Baudelaire’s texts are spoken by children and recorded on tape. The magic of this kaleidoscope develops in the imagination between actors, material and audience: A sequence of pictures and live-music, that wants to counterpoint Baudelaire’s vision of the world and open it for an understanding from the present.
directed by: Hendrik Mannes
performance & puppets: Michael Vogel
live-Music: Charlotte Wilde
voices: Charlie Bunn, Hannah Ravalda, Catherine Smith, Emily Smith, Eve Smith and Lawrence Smith