Gerhart Hauptmanns Tragic Comedy 'The Rats' for the pop music generation
(IN GERMAN)
Videoclip der Version von 2006
one woman zapping biographies performance
Heinrich von Kleist: "The broken jug" for the generations pop, rock and popular song
faust in the box / english version:
"Have you ever seen a puppet Faust seduce and then make violent love to a Barbie, all to the tune of Bloodhound Gang’s
“The Bad Touch”? If not, you’ve been missing out. ...
What this production does differently … it punctuates the dialogue with clips from pop music, swapping out many of the nineteenth century translation lines, for lyrics from “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, “Like a Virgin”, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”, and many others.
…. Markland’s portrayal of Mephisto was weird and creepy – and therefore accurate. ...
… probably the most bizarre show anyone has ever attended. …
….it was amazing and more than a little disturbing how little times have changed; the show has had no trouble finding songs that handle the same themes as those dealt with, in the 200 year old play. It seems that people will always gossip, flirt, whine, and want to get laid. My conception of Goethe’s masterpiece is forever changed."
Elizabeth Creelman, The Bruns Arts, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, 23 October 2012
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"... it works so well I became fascinated to see and hear just what was about to happen next.
... It is superbly performed and very very cleverly written and designed...."
4 stars
www.one4review.co.uk / 17 August 2009
faust in the box / english version:
”... Bridge Markland has done a remarkable job of maintaining this tension in her adaptation and ensuring that audience members of all ages will be able to connect to at least some – and in many cases most – of the popular songs she weaves into her adaptation, whether they are more familiar with the linguistic-cultural knowledge of an English-speaking context, a German-speaking one, or both.
“faust in the Box” illustrates in a fresh way that “culture”, contrary to common belief, is not to be found inside individuals; rather, this piece demonstrates how individuals interact with cultural meanings and negotiate positions in relation to them. “Faust in the box” invites audience members to position themselves in multiple ways in relation to Faust and the popular music Markland has selected to stand in for Goethe’s text. This new cultural artifact - in fact a collage of cultural artifacts - stimulates viewers to make connections and discover tensions between high and low culture, as well as across generations and cultural contexts. Rather than universalizing human experience or presenting an image of two distinct, homogenous cultures, Bridge Markland expertly highlights the cultural borrowings between the German- and English-speaking realms and skillfully maintains the particularity of cultural artifacts that come from each of these cultural traditions. This piece also demonstrates that intermediality is a tool with which we can unsettle simplistic notions of culture and selfhood.”
Allison G. Cattell and Belinda Kleinhans, University of Waterloo, Canada, April 19th 2012
Bridge Markland 
Schiller for the pop music generation