Friedrich Schiller 's The Robbers for the pop music generation
available for booking in English (94 min) or German (90 min)
Using puppetry and lip-syncing, Bridge Markland transforms Schiller's classic Sturm und Drang tragedy into a fast-paced, one woman show. Rebellion, envy, tragic love, stubbornness, hero-worship and desperation are all themes of the play. Markland underscores Schiller's dramatic words with clips from 157 songs ranging from Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" to Lady Gaga's "Pokerface", from Ennio Morricone's hit "Once Upon a Time in the West" to the theme from Dallas. Schiller's text is spoken by actors from Berlin's English-language theatre community: Peter Scollin, from Platypus Theater, as the Old Moor; Jeffrey Mittleman as Spiegelberg; and many others.
The old Count von Moor adores his eldest son Karl. His younger son Franz grows jealous and plots to claim his father's fortune. "I will root up from my path whatever obstructs my progress towards becoming the master." Rammstein roars: "Ich will jeden Herzschlag kontrollieren." (I want to control every heartbeat.)
With a forged letter, Franz slanders Karl to their father. "It's Tragedy," sing the Bee Gees, anticipating the outcome. In Leipzig, Karl waits in vain for a letter from his father to the strains of the Carpenters' "Please Mr. Postman." Instead a letter from his brother arrives telling him, "You may go, your father directs me to tell you, wherever your own vicious propensities lead." Karl should not "entertain any hope". Desperate, Karl organizes a band of thieves. "Robbers and murderers! As my soul lives, I am your captain!" Karl shouts.
And so the drama is set in motion.
Prize
The German Version räuber in the box won second prize at the Solo theatre festival Monospektakel at Theater Reutlingen / Southern Germany
Quotes from Schiller's The Robbers in English language
Franz von Moor: Up then! and to your work manfully. I will root up from my path whatever obstructs my progress towards becoming the master. Master I must be, that I may extort by force what I cannot win by affection.
[Frisch also! muthig ans Werk! - Ich will Alles um mich her ausrotten, was mich einschränkt. Herr muß ich sein, daß ich das mit Gewalt ertrotze, wozu mir die Liebenswürdigkeit gebricht.]
Robber Moor: Now we are free, comrades! I feel an army in my fist!
Death or liberty! At the least they shall not take a man of us alive!
[Jetzt sind wir frei - Kameraden! Ich fühle eine Armee in meiner Faust
Tod oder Freiheit! Wenigstens sollen sie Keinen lebendig haben!]
Amalia: Support me! for heaven's sake support me! It is growing dark before my eyes!
[Haltet mich! Um Gotteswillen, haltet mich! - es wird mir so Nacht vor den Augen.]
Cast, Voice-Over Artists, Puppets, Music
Directed by: Bridge Markland + Heike Gäßler
Soundtrack concept: Bridge Markland, sound design: Jurij Panfilowitsch
Voices: Ric Oquita (Franz von Moor), Simon Newby (Karl von Moor / Robber Moor), Peter Scollin (The old Moor), Melissa Holroyd (Amalia), Jeffrey Mittleman (Spiegelberg), Oskar Brown (Hermann), Neal Wach (Daniel), Patrick O’Beirne (Razmann), Erman Jones (Roller), Ben Maddox (Schweizer), Jonathan Toby Burdon (Schwarz), Brian Bell (Grimm), Patrick Scully (Pastor Moser), Patrick Lanagan (Father Dominic), David Cassel (Schufterle)
Bridge Markland plays: Franz von Moor, Karl von Moor, The old Moor, Amalia, Hermann, Daniel, Roller, Spiegelberg, Father Dominic
Film-Music and Film-Quotes: The Wizard of Oz, Prince of Egypt - Disney Film, Céline Dion (Titanic), Ennio Morricone (Once Upon a Time in the West and others), Elmer Bernstein (The Magnificent Seven), Krzysztof Penderecki (The Shining), The great Dictator by Charlie Chaplin, Bones, Dallas, M.A.S.H. and many others.
Sound effects from: Black Sunday (1960’s Horror film by Mario Bava), Lord of the Rings and others.
More Music from: Shirley Bassey, Beasty Boys, The Beatles, Bee Gees, Bloodhound Gang, David Bowie, Jeff Buckley, Prince Buster, , Mariah Carey, The Carpenters, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan, Faithless, Lady Gaga, Lorne Greene, Gotye, Diamanda Galás, Whitney Houston, Human League, Led Zeppelin, Brenda Lee, Barrington Levy, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Marilyn Manson, Metallica, The Moody Blues, Muse, Elvis Presley, Public Enemy, Queen, Radiohead, Rammstein, Scooter, Simon & Garfunkel, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Village People, Richard Wagner, Amy Winehouse and many others.
The English text is based on the following translation:
www.gutenberg.org/files/6782/6782-h/6782-h.htm
press comments on the German version
Bridge Markland is player and actor, mean guy and delicate woman. She strides and poses, she laments and rages herself through Schiller's Drama. She plays the movies, TV-soap, musical and big opera.
Kieler Nachrichten, Ruth Bender, 14 Nov 2012 (mit freundlicher Genehmigung)
an enjoyable game of OneWomanSpinsTheWorld. It shows ... that Pop can transform the classics.
zitty, Tom Mustroph, 28 June 2012 (mit freundlicher Genehmigung)
A female member of the audience confided to her neighbour: "First I thought it was a woman, then a man, but it's a woman after all." ... Bridge Markland poses riddles to her audience.
Der Tagesspiegel, Katrin Gottschalk, 19 June 2012 (mit freundlicher Genehmigung)
The most thorough way to dust down this 231 year old piece is with this pop-version.
Berliner Morgenpost, Ulrike Borowczyk, 12 June 2012 (mit freundlicher Genehmigung)
performances
robbers in the box (English)
- English Theatre Berlin, 2013
- Middlebury College, Vermont, USA, 2013
- Out of Berlin, Theaterkapelle, Berlin, 2013
- California State University Long Beach, USA, 2014
- Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA, 2016
räuber in the box (German)
- Stadtbad Steglitz, Berlin, 2012
- Internationales Monodrama Festival - Thespis, Kiel, Germany, 2012
- Goethe Institut San Francisco, 2013
- Excelsior German Center, Oakland, California, USA, 2013
- Theaterkapelle, Berlin, 2013
- Schlossplatztheater Köpenick, Berlin, 2013
- Penguin's Days - children + young peoples theatre festival, Schlosstheater Moers, Germany, 2013
- Goethe Institut Montréal, Canada, 2014
- Bürgerhaus Stollwerck, Cologne, 2014, 2017
- St. Spiritus, Greifswald, Germany, 2014
- Goethe Institut Toronto, Canada, 2014
- Monospektakel V, Theater Reutlingen/Die Tonne, 2015
- Weltecho, Chemnitz, 2015
- Brotfabrik, Berlin, 2015, 2016,2017, 2021
- Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, 2016
- Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, 2016
- Schule an der Dahme (High School), Berlin - Köpenick, 2019
- Robert-Jungk-Oberschule (High School), Berlin - Wilmersdorf, 2019
- Wilma-Rudolph-Oberschule (High School), Berlin - Zehlendorf, 2019
- Auguste-Viktoria-Schule (High School), Itzehoe, Germany, 2019
- Kulturhaus Wilster, Germany, 2019
- PUC Puchheim, 2020
- Stadtbücherei Wangen, 2021
- Stadtbücherei Tettnang / KITT, 2021
- Stadtbücherei Bad Waldsee, 2021
- Puppentheater Museum, Berlin, 2021
- Fontane Klub, Brandenburg a.d. Havel, 2022
- Bettina von Arnim Schule, Berlin - Reinickendorf, 2022
- Professor Pröpstls Puppentheater, Backnang, Baden-Württemberg, 2022
- Schillerwoche in Marbach am Neckar (Schiller's Birthplace), Baden-Württemberg, 2022