Eternal youth and the decay: a theater staging with depth!

Eternal youth and the decay: a theater staging with depth!

The theater landscape in Aachen will soon be richer for a remarkable staging. On January 11, 2025, the Theater 99 shows the premiere of "Eternal Youth, Growth Forever", a striking adaptation of the television film "The mud" by Eugène Ionesco. Richard Jourdant, the director, has gathered an exclusively female ensemble, LX, in order to bring the topics of decay, death and the denial of finiteness to the stage. The staging addresses the belief in eternal economic growth and critically examines the consumer society, which is particularly hostile to women.

ionesco, a Romanian-French playwright, is considered one of the most important representatives of absurdism. With his play "The Kahle Singer", which was premiered in Paris in 1950, he turned the conventional dramaturgies upside down and created a new theater form that still leaves an impression today. In addition to "The Kahle Singer", he wrote numerous other works, including "the lesson" and "the chairs", which through their illusory dialogues and issues of alienation, as in the famous scene of two strangers who realize that they are a couple.

The dynamics of absurd

In "Eternal Youth, Growth Forever", a man is portrayed who wakes up in one day and continues to disintegrate whose existence, while the boundaries between reality, past and future blur. This dramatic idea leads to an end in which the protagonist sinks into the mud and ultimately disappears from the consciousness of the characters and spectators. Jourdant relies on a staging that combines lightness, humor, melancholy and gloomy and grips both serious and grotesque elements.

The ensemble under the musical direction of Vera Knauer combines a simple narrative structure with live music and noises. Knauer, who plays keyboard, among other things, also interprets pop hits from the 80s, which give the evening a nostalgic note. The main actors, Barbara Schaffernicht and Undine Backhaus, make a decisive contribution to the chosen staging, which works with a few props, so that the focus remains on the stage.

a profound topic

Eugène Ionesco itself, born on November 26, 1909 in Romania and died on March 28, 1994 in Paris, was known for his criticism of the bourgeois code of conduct and the inadequacy of communication. These topics ran like a thread through his entire work. In his youth, Ionesco, son of a Romanian and a Frenchwoman, experienced deep isolation that was strongly reflected in his work. His selection of work reflects the dynamics and tragedy of human life.

The performances in Aachen are scheduled for the 25th and 26th January in Theater 99. The regular presentation of this staging, which convinces with its uniqueness and critical approach, is an opportunity to deal with Ionesco's philosophical questions and the absurdity of human existence. Further information on the performance is available on the theater website.