PFISTERS MÜHLE - staatstheater stuttgart, based on the novel by wilhelm raabe 1870; premiere at 15. november 2014
directed by armin petras
stage design and musical composition: martin eder
costumes: dinah ehm
dramaturgy: bernd isele
stage photography: ju ostkreuz

http://www.schauspiel-stuttgart.de/spielplan/pfisters-muehle/
http://www.schauspiel-stuttgart.de/spielplan/pfisters-muehle/martin-eder/

the stage design will take the form of a massive installation. this will comprise a huge rotating waste-water pipe, porsche cars that have been damaged beyond repair, and the large black sculptural work from the hauser wirth show 2013 in zürich. the music for the production will be a minimalist, modern classical composition written for single voices, a full choir, a strings ensemble and a variety of electronic instruments. low frequency drones and undertones PFISTERS MÜHLE is a 1884 novel by the german author wilhelm raabe. a tale of economic change and environmental destruction, the story is told from the perspective of the first person: ebert pfister, who recounts how the arrival of the factory krickerode destroyed the stream on which the mill once stood. a piece on the devastaing effects of early industrialisation, pollution and destruction through ignorance and capitalism.

ein mensch sucht zwischen baukränen nach den spuren seiner vergangenheit. was er findet, ist ihm fremd geworden. der fluss der zeit ist über das land seiner kindheit hinweggegangen. die, die schwimmen konnten, sind weg. die, die nicht schwimmen konnten, liegen tot im schlamm. „wo bleiben alle die bilder?“
armin petras

Pfister’s Mill is considerd to be the first environmental novel in German literature. Wilhelm Raabe wrote the novel in the year 1884 in Braunschweig. From here we can follow the traces of the novel all the way to Stuttgart where Wilhelm Raabe lived from 1962 to 1870. The bank of the Neckar in-between Esslingen and Bad Cannstatt was one of the main settings for industrial expedition: railways, machine and motor factories appeared out of nowhere. They changed the face of this section of the river that had been described by romanticists as “The friendliest of all of Swabia”. This leap in time from preindustrial Germany to the modern ages is described in Wilhem Raabe’s novel with the help of the story of father Pfisters mill. The once clear water of the river running alongside the popular weekend destination starts to smell like sulphur and decay. Masses of fish float with their bellies up through the muddy sewer. The reason for the contamination is found in a sugar factory that lies a few miles up the river. When the guest stop coming and the Mill stands still father Pfister begins to fight. But the struggle is in vain. The comrades in arms become entrepreneurs and shareholders. The old miller Pfister dies and the river, the mill and “the old romantic countryside” is swallowed by the new time. The stage adaptation of the novel Pfisters Mühle is directed by Armin Petras. The music and the stage design was created by the artist Martin Eder.

2013 HAUSER & WIRTH ZÜRICH "THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS"

2013 EIGENART LEIPZIG "DIMENSIONS VARIABLE / GEIST ODER LEBEN 1."