Staged Reading
Los Viejos and the Sea
Los Viejos and the Sea was inspired by the research of the anthropologist Tanja Granzow, who interviewed local fishermen. They spoke about their work, family backgrounds, and some severe problems they are facing in a changing environment. During the interviews, the artists Katrin Funcke, Kristina Heldmann and Stefan Michaelsen created photographs and subsequently a series of illustrations.
Actor Michael Masula was searching for a way to weave the stories into a fictional narrative. He created a text collage based on the fishermen´s statements and excerpts of Ernest Hemingway's novel The Old Man and the Sea, which tells the story of an old Cuban fisherman who spends several days at sea fighting against an enormous marlin that he has hooked but cannot reign in.
On stage, two performers are reading the text collage in the form of a dialogue. They are seated on opposite sides of a table, representing the tensions between different stakeholders in fishery.
Staged public reading, 30 min
Premiere 6.10.2022
First performed in Spanish, followed by English and German
Performed by Luz Kaufmann, David Quinche
Concept, script and direction Michael Masula
Research Tanja Granzow
Stage design Michael Lehner, Andreas Bergmann
Technical setup Toni Melajoki
Photography Fabian Gasperl
Video Stephanie Guse
© Michael Masula, Tanja Granzow, 2022