A Four Car Car-Chase and a Funeral
Last week there was a breakthrough in my use of the Austrian language and its variants: I went to the Posthof to see a cabaret show, and I laughed at the jokes.
I also went to a meeting that was held in German, but that achievement wasn’t so great as the overly detailed presentation was in English. Not that the meeting was a bad thing in itself, but I’ve sat in non-English meetings before, and no matter how much I understand, I still don’t laugh.
But I did laugh at Blözinger’s Erich, the story of a pair of brothers as they make a road trip to dispose of their father’s ashes. With only two chairs at their disposal on stage, Robert Blöchl and Roland Penzinger (a good friend of ours) made me believe in a large cast of characters, one very broken car and the use of chewing gum as a universal repair medium.
Sure, my language skills are getting better and I’m sometimes now dreaming in German, but thank goodness for physical theatre. I’m sure there where a huge number of spoken jokes that I didn’t understand while I was watching Erich, but cultural differences and language skills aside, I loved this show.
BlöZinger – Erich.
Not being able to go to see performances and films in German has been frustrating and it feels so relieving to know that this is only going to get easier from here on in. That said, I’ll be waiting a little before I go and watch staid dramas with lots of talking. I get that for free with bonus Powerpoint.
BlöZinger are touring throughout Austria and southern Germany with Erich and as part of the Long Night of Cabaret. You can find their performance dates here.