A performance based on the life and work of the German artist Kathe Kollwitz whose paintings and drawings depict working class life in the early twentieth century. The performance shows Kollwitz just before her death, reliving events in her past. Rückblick means "flashbacks" and the production is structured as a series of tableaux evoking memories from childhood nightmares to dreams of her dying son on the battlefield. As in Kollwitz's work, many of the images are harrowing and the themes of death, loss and war run through the performance.
Originally performed at The Place in 1982 and The Young Vic in 1983. It was evived in 1988 and performed at The Riverside Studios. It toured to Berlin and returned again to The Riverside Studios in 1995
DEVISED AND CHOREOGRAPHED BY
Wolfgang Stange
DESIGNED BY
Sally Loughridge and Kate Owen
Filmed in 1988
DIRECTOR
Martin Goodsmith
PRODUCER
Yuko Ijichi
PRODUCTION
Muse Company
"When it was over the audience shouted, stamped, then rose in heartfelt tribute" The Stage
"Admirable in its ability to contrast moods of elation and dismay" The Telegraph
Supported by Shape, BP, Caloute Gulbenkian Foundation, Nat West Bank and ITV.
