THE PEN FRIENDSHIP

Markus&Markus - documentary theater based on letters to women convicted of murder.

Video: https://vimeo.com/688321078

The pen friendship

Penthesilea, Judith, Clytemnestra, Medea, Lady Macbeth. Night after night, we let ourselves be sprinkled by their acts of violence enjoying the drama, murder and killing. We watch true crime, we consume violence on TV, stages and in books. But if it gets real, we take people out of society and don´t look closer.

If Penthesilea and the others were not trapped in Reclam books, they would probably be in prison. There, the Markus&Markus theater collective tracked down the - very real - protagonists of this evening for their new play and began to write them letters.

The result is a pen-pal relationship with four women who have been convicted of murder. And got a life-sentence without parole.

In their documentary theater, which does not claim to be true to reality, the theatre-collective, together with their pen-pals, create an evening of theater that poses questions about humanity - and about second chances - in a new way.

Credits

CONCEPT, REALIZATION: Lara-Joy Bues, Katarina Eckold, Markus Schäfer, Markus Schmans 

STAGE, COSTUME: CassidyAndTheKid 

LIGHTING DESIGN Anahí Pérez 

VOICES Marie Jordan, Ronja Losert, Laura Naumann 

DRAWINGS Rosanna Merklin 

THANKS TO Amber, April, Lisa-Jo, Maureen, Milishia

A production of Markus&Markus Theaterkollektiv in co-production with SOPHIENSÆLE, LOT Braunschweig, Pavillon Hannover, ROXY Birsfelden, Theater Rampe Stuttgart and Lichthof Theater Hamburg.

Supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe, MWK Niedersachsen, Stiftung Niedersachsen, the Friedrich Weinhagen Foundation and the Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.