Method

Well known for their international theatre, opera and film works, the playwright and screenwriter Kata Wéber and director Kornel Mundruczó explore in Method, their second joint production for the Volksbühne, play and reality of authoritarian structures at the intersection of theatre and film. In team with the actors Ann Göbel, Zarah Kofler, Johanna Wokalek, Maximilian Brauer, Benny Claessens, Martin Wuttke, Sir Henry and Soma Boronkay, Mundruczó and Wéber have developed a storyline addressing current debates on power relations, authoritarianism and dependencies. Starting from rehearsal situations, the question arises: where is the point when the intention to transform into a film character turns into transgressive or abusive behaviour unprotected by any fictional story? What sort of risks does the supposed ‘safe-space‘ of the arts harbour, and which kind of conduct and behaviour is still legitimate?

The title Method not only accidentally refers to a US-American acting method developed by Strasberg that emphasized naturalistic staging and maximal immersion into the role. It stands paradigmatically for the question: Where is the boundary between actor and character personality? Method also addresses the fundamental mechanisms deployed by a community or society to protect and legitimate the perpetrators, and looks into the behaviour of offenders, witnesses and opportunists, who are gradually destroying everything around them. Method is the sheer horror of a movie production and also a farce reflecting on and mocking the genre horror flick.