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<\/a>Rosemary Brown (1916 \u2013 2001), an English widow with two young children, presented alleged new works by some of the greatest composers of all time \u2013 Bach, Liszt, Schubert, Chopin, Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Debussy. She claimed that these deceased composers communicated with her, enlisting her collaboration in completing their compositions, dictating the music to her. Luz does not engage with the controversy or issues of proof with regard to the afterlife, communication with ghosts or the authorship of the compositions. Instead he takes a far more intriguing path. The play evokes the experience of Rosemary Brown – the multiplicity of these voices, the presence of the music, her struggle to survive emotionally and financially, and the enduring pain of losing her husband Charles Brown, who died in 1961.<\/p>\n
Debussy, Stravinsky, Charles Brown and others appear and speak, the different actors taking on different roles. The presence\/absence of the deceased and the living is referenced several times, with a humorous twist, as characters announce: “I’m not here.” When I Die was presented at the Israel Festival immediately following Robert Wilson’s interpretation of Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape<\/em>, an excellent choice of curatorship, as shared themes resonate in these two works: the force of memory, the enduring pain of loss and loneliness, the vivid presence of past loves and past selves, the co-existence of present and past in the mind.<\/p>\n As it turns out, those famous deceased composers are all very amusing, and their harmonies are heavenly! Suly R\u00f6thlisberger\u00a0portrays Rosemary Brown, who is not always welcoming of the musical intrusions on her psyche \u2013 it turns out that smashing a teacup is a rather effective way of getting ghosts to stop singing, at least temporarily. The set, with its abundance of musical instruments, stools, and huge music cases that double as doors and more, is constantly shifting. The four men, clad in concert dress, play the several pianos onstage, as well as clarinet, violin, and more, while moving freely in and out of characters, speaking in English, French, and German. Although there were surtitles in Hebrew, like music, it was not always necessary to rely on the translation to feel the effect.<\/p>\n The musical intrusions come not only in the form of inspired new compositions, there is also the recurring (and for Mrs. Brown, quite frustrating) rhyming Quartermaster’s Store song, circa WWII: “there are rats, rats, big as alley cats\u2026” Peggy Lee’s early 60s hit Is That All There Is? and crooner Al Bowlly’s Midnight, the Stars and You (Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller), co-written with Ray Noble, share the soundspace with zealous advertisements for Wurlitzer pianos and formal letters announcing bills past due, threatening to cut off the electricity.<\/p>\n When I Die<\/em> plays with the boundaries between fiction and reality, the perceived and the imagined. An emotional journey, told in sound, imagery and associations; the pain of loss and the search for solace.<\/p>\n When I Die<\/em><\/p>\n Director & Stage Design:\u00a0Thom Luz; Actors:\u00a0Jack McNeill,\u00a0Daniele Pintaudi,\u00a0Suly R\u00f6thlisberger,\u00a0Samuel Streiff,\u00a0Mathias Weibel; Musical director:\u00a0Mathias Weibel; Dramaturgy:\u00a0Marcus Dross; Costume & light design:\u00a0Tina Bleuler; Sound design:\u00a0Martin Hofstetter; Production:\u00a0Thom Luz & Bernetta Theaterproduktionen; Co-production:\u00a0Gessnerallee Z\u00fcrich,\u00a0SpielArt Festival M\u00fcnchen,\u00a0Kaserne Basel,\u00a0Theater Chur,\u00a0S\u00fcdpol Luzern<\/p>\n More on the Israel Festival 2017:<\/p>\n