Of the various forms of artistic expression, perhaps one of the most restrictive to follow when you do not master the language of reference is theater. When I lived in São Paulo, I had the opportunity to watch productions created in Germany that were presented in Brazil with Portuguese surtitles. They were: Endstation Amerika, based on A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, directed by Frank Castorf at the Volksbühne Berlin; The Enemy of the People, by Henrik Ibsen, directed by Thomas Ostermeier, and Miss Julie, directed by Kate Mitchell, at the Schaubühne Berlin; The Threepenny Opera, by Bertolt Brecht, directed by Bob Wilson at the Berliner Ensemble; Life at Roosevelt Square, directed by Dea Loher, at the Thalia Theater Hamburg; and also shows created and directed by German groups with local production and performers, such as Super Night Shot, by Gob Squad, Home Visit: Brasil em casa, by Rimini Protokoll, and the project X Moradias, idealized by Matthias Lilienthal in a realization by Sesc São Paulo in partnership with Goethe-Institut São Paulo, to name the most emblematic montages and that still remain in my memory.
In other words, even before I moved to Berlin in 2018, I had already had some access to the kind of theater I would find here. And that excited me enormously. There was, however, one detail: I don't speak German. So, what to do?
Fortunately, several German theaters regularly present plays with English surtitles. At the Gorki Theater, all the plays are surtitled. At the Berliner Ensemble, Deutsches Theater, Schaubühne, Volksbühne, and HAU - Hebbel am Ufer, most plays have some sessions with English translation. Performances with surtitles are identified in the monthly program guide.
There are also several theaters, such as the Acker Stadt Palast, Ballhaus Naunynstrasse, English Theatre Berlin, and Kuringa, whose programming is composed of shows created by artists from the most diverse nationalities, including many Brazilians living in Berlin, who create presentations with a multicultural artistic team that reflects the plurality of voices, bodies, and identities who inhabit this territory.
Speaking of programming, in general, the theaters announce what will be presented two months in advance. There is a date when the program is released and another when the sale begins. For example, on January 25th, the Schaubühne released the schedule for March, which goes on sale at 11 am on February 1st, and so on. Each theater follows its own rule.
Why is this information useful? Because to secure a ticket to Hamlet, directed by Thomas Ostermeier, at the Schaubühne Berlin, with Lars Eidinger in the title role, you must buy your ticket at the opening of the sales, as tickets sell out in a matter of minutes. Each theater has successes whose tickets sell out quickly.
