Sophie Hall, Helena Müller, Tom Mani, Samuel Amman, Laura Vegh, Patrick Kuntschnik, Nicolas Hunziger, Joel Andres, and (possibly) Eva Mann's sleeve. Gay Beggars present an evening of three short plays by James Matthew Barrie (the author of Peter Pan). In ‘Half an Hour’, Lady Lillian decides to run off with a civil engineer rather than stay married to an uncivil financier. ‘A Well-Remembered Voice’ portrays a couple who come to terms in an unusual way with the loss of their only child in the war. In ‘The Twelve Pound Look’ a wealthy man receives an unexpected visitor, who doesn’t quite agree he’s worth a million.

The topics include: Can a woman leave her husband and yet be a good person? What is the true value of a person; are appearances sometimes deceiving? This is an evening of social drama and comedy. The plays have been likened to Ibsen mixed with British humour.

Gay Beggar's opening night was a success, with tickets sold out and an appreciative audience. In what was a good choice of short, bitter-sweet plays, the wit and twists in the plot makee for a great evening’s entertainment. This amateur dramatics group affiliated with Basel University’s English department put on a good performance, especially given that for some English is not their mother tongue. In particular, Patrick Kuntschnik gave a strong performance in the role of Mr Don (A Well-Remembered Voice), when he has to hold the stage in a humorous yet moving scene with his dead son, and Eva Mann (The Twelve Pound Look) is convincing as Lady Sims, whose encounter with the stranger ignites a spark of unconventional thinking. The costumes are admirable; authentic period pieces designed by Eva & Claudia Ott, which lend professionalism to the whole staging.

Further performances at 8pm on 8/10/12/13/16/18/21/21 May in Cellar Theatre, ‘Schönes Haus’, Nadelberg 6. Price: CHF 20/15.

Reservations: gaybeggars@hotmail.com. See: http://pages.unibas.ch/gaybeggars



This play is entitled a ‘Musical grotesque’, which turns out to mean a play interspersed with music from the live band on stage ‘Kolsimcha’ and dance. It’s highly entertaining, because during and between the scenes, the actors suddenly break out into dance, accompanied by the band, who play contemporary Klezmer music (which has its roots in Jewish wedding music). The dance sequences are quite bizarre, contorted, synchronized, but extremely funny. Yet the story itself is a sad one. Hence, despite a delightfully entertaining evening, you leave the performance with serious food for thought.

The story itself is a tragic one, based on a true incident in 1996, which many will remember. A boat with 300 refugees attempting to land in Italy sank off the coast of Sicily, its may-day calls ignored. The costal authorities never followed up the case and the Cutter was never raised from the deep, which became known to locals as the ‘Ghost-ship’. The play takes place some years later, where 8 passengers meet on a boat crossing to Sicily to a congress on the incident.

The passengers all have equally obscure motives for their interest the case: for example, two ambitious young journalists visit the ‘scene of the crime’, in the hope of winning a prize for their journalism; a funeral undertaker expects the Cutter will soon be raised and he’ll be the one to provide funeral services to the dead, hence earning enough money for a villa; Other passengers include a local priest, and the local town mayor of the port, and they all have a story to tell.

The author, Margareth Obexer, based her play on real interviews she made with locals from the area. She deals with the themes of guilt and failure. But together with the director, Florentine Klepper, she brings these difficult topics and a tragic case to the stage in a memorable way. On one hand it’s highly amusing, but this cleverly avoids undermining the seriousness of the issue. You leave the performance carrying some uncomfortable questions about today’s society.

Highly recommended. Well worth seeing!!

Next performances: 9/17/24/ May and further performances in June. See: www.theater-basel.ch.



Two ballets are shown:

I. Guest choreographer Ohad Naharin presents two pieces: the first ‘Humus’ with an all female dance troupe. This is known as Minimal Dance – high energy and controlled movement – but results effect combined with the music produced a soporific effect. Audience didn’t applaud.

This was folllowed by ‘Black Milk’ with an all male troupe. The costumes were reminiscent of ancient Egyptian slaves, with long white skirts. There’s an interesting use of black paint during the dance, hence the title. It’s an emotive dance where one dancer is continually rejected by the group.

Overall the first part was somewhat disappointing. It’s not the calibre we’ve come to expect from guest choreographers.

II. Richard Wherlock’s ballet Milk & Honey is performed to the music of Georges Gruntz, a Basel jazz musician.  The theme is Basel city and the river Rhine.  Gruntz’s composition is a commission from the Basel Fasnacht’s Commité, who are celebrating 100 years of the Commité.

The dance is a complete contrast to first performance by Naharin. It’s very high energy, and at times completely crazy. The wild music and dance compliment each other. The music is eclectic; fast rhythms of jazz, slow blues, jazzed up Swiss marching music, and of course, the Gooka-music of Basel’s Fasnacht.

The public’s favourite, Roderick George, does a marvellous Intro wearing a harlequin’s cap, representing Fasnacht’s Ueli. There’s also a highly unusual guest singer, Erika Stucky, who sadly only appears intermittently, but interacts well with the dancers and has great stage presence. She’s dressed in a bizarre traditional costume replete with high-healed pink clogs, and she sings a kind of modern yodel, mixed with jazz.

The whole thing comprises an eye-catching spectacle, but I found it rather a medley of too many disjointed pieces which were all in themselves too short and didn’t really develop into anything.

For example, a troupe of female dancers start a high-energy synchronised dance, dressed in long-black trench coats and tall black boots, underneath dressed in white hot-pants and short tops. It made an immediate impact, but within minutes they’d gone –the idea wasn’t developed.

The constant variation in costumes was the most startling thing about the whole dance: bowler hats and black raincoats, a ray of different tartans and checks, and school girl dresses.

It’s fun and worth seeing (the audience seemed to appreciate it), but I still feel it somehow that less would have been more, because there were some really good, original ideas, which needed more stage time.

Next performances: 30 Apr, 3/7/10/12/26/28/31 May and more in June. See: www.theater-basel.ch.

This modern staging of Mozart’s opera buffa is delightful and provides a very humorous evening’s entertainment. It is a new production for the Basel stage. The Director sets the premise for the Count’s infidelities during the overture, when the newly decorated child’s room replete with large stuffed toys is cleared out and the servant Figaro and his beloved, Susanna, move in. Turning her back on the childless room, the Countess shrugs off her husband’s embrace and sets the scene for the couple’s marital difficulties.

The soloists were marvellous, each Aria delighting the audience, who responded with enthusiastic applause. In particular, there’s opportunity to hear Franziska Gottwald again, who sings the part of the page Cerubino. She’s a fascinating mezzo-soprano with a warm voice free of tremolo and the ability to be androgynous when the part requires it. We also heard already play Alcina in Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso last year. Maria Boog, a great favourite on the Basel stage, sings Susanna. She not only has a fine voice but is a convincing actress.

The set-design is artistic and colourful, from the Alice-in-Wonderland oversize designer dressing room belonging to the Countess, and the garden replete with cacti - forewarning someone will get pricked when the lovers rendezvous.

Synopsis: Count Almaviva makes advances on Susanna, his wife’s maid, who is due to marry Figaro. The Countess plots with Susanna to humiliate him, by dressing up the page, Cerubino, as Susanna and agreeing to a rendezvous. There are cases of mistaken identity, lots of clothes swapping and hiding in cupboards; daring escapes into the bath-tub or off the balcony into the garden.

 It is sung in Italian with German sub-titles.

 Performances dates are: 2/8/13/22/25/30 May, 12/8 June. See www.theater-basel.ch