Music Theatre since 1990 - Schott Music

Synopsis
On a hot Friday in a block of flats on the outskirts of a German city, there is a problem with
the water supply. During his inspection the caretaker Lohmeier meets Franziska Dehke and her
Arabian flatmate Fatima Mansur. Fatima is visited by her boyfriend Kalil every evening, while
on the sofa Franziska dreams of the Orient. Peter Kaparti, the neighbour, is irresistibly drawn to
their flat. A problem with the lifts causes the five characters’ destinies to merge. The temporal
levels and boundaries between dream and reality become blurred. The desert wind of the
Arabian night blows through the apartment block, but all of a sudden this magical scenario
collapses.
Die arabische Nacht
26.04.2008 Grillo Theater, Essen
‘For me, Roland Schimmelpfennig’s original play is a somnambulistic masterpiece. Seemingly light
and surreal, in it we experience the dreams and nightmares of five lonely amorous city dwellers
who, brought together in an apartment block and confused by the continuous sound of rushing
water, give free reign to their longings. Out of this I had to compose a polyphonic yet swinging
ensemble piece that, once started, makes everything flow, blossom and fade away in order to take
shape anew. The five dramatis personae, who each have a great deal of possibilities for characterisation,
have been interwoven in such a way that they can indulge in their own dreams or
nightmares in a continuous flow of musical events. In order to hint at “the enchanted in the ordinary”
in musical terms, I elected for a divided orchestra of 18 musicians. Thus a kind of “sound
arena” is created (which I had already deployed for my odyssey for clarinet and orchestra Heart of
Darkness)’. (Christian Jost)
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