Peter Murmann

Democracy Saved

Boris Johnson tried circumvent democracy. But brave souls in the Tory party saved democracy with great costs to themselves. They were expelled because of their rebellion. History books will remember them.

Books, Fiction

Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”

After many years, I had the chance to reread Kafka’s Metamorphosis. When I first encountered the piece, I was enthralled by the thought experiment Kafka pursued in the story. What if you wake up in the morning and you have turned into a little bug, but you still have your full consciousness? You can still understand what human beings are saying but they cannot understand you anymore and they see you a non-human terrifying, little creature to run away from. How would you feel? How would you cope with this situation?

Diary, Politics, Travel, Europe

Will King Boris lead the the UK to fall apart

PM: My own sense is that the likelihood of the UK breaking apart has increased substantially with Boris Johnson becoming the prime minister of the UK. Here is a good summary of we know about King Boris.

Boris Johnson can’t be found out: we all know he’s bluffing
by Fintan O’Toole in The Guardian

The new PM’s rise to No 10 is the carefully managed product of three decades of a show stage-managed by and about himself.

Toni Erdmannn

This film is billed as a comedy. Yes, there are moments that are extremely funny. But mostly Toni Erdmannis a subtle meditation on the relationship between a parent and a child—here a father and daughter. The father is introduced from the first scene as a practical prankster. A few scenes later the daughter is introduced at a celebratory gathering of the mother who has a new partner. As the father arrives the daughter is in the garden where she pretends to make important phone calls for her consulting job.

Diary

The Demolition Artist: 3 Critics Debate Ivo van Hove

Peter Murmann: Inspring dicussion of the work of theatre director Ivo van Hove in the NY Times (Jan. 9, 2019)

By Ben Brantley, Elisabeth Vincentelli and Jason Zinoman

Who is Ivo van Hove and why are theatergoers saying such (thrilling) (furious) (mystified) things about him? How did the unassuming Belgian director, who since 2001 has made the theater company Toneelgroep Amsterdam his base of operations, turn into the most important auteur on the international stage circuit — and now a three-time Broadway director?