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further projects directed by anne hirth:
no palm trees. no lions. no monkeys.
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no palm trees. no lions. no monkeys.
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teamreviewsphotosdates“Theatre with a societal concern always runs the danger of coming accross as instructive. The piece of South African born Yvette Coetzee "No Palm Trees. No Lions. No Monkeys." which premiered in German in FFT Juta, proves one thing in particular: how to skilfully sidestep this danger. Coetzee's theatre is radically subjective. As in earlier productions, the actress, rooted in object and puppet theatre, stands on the stage alone. Apart from her, only tapes and - the objects in the constructed apartment speak (set: Alexandra Süßmilch). Through the interaction with these props, with picture frames, chests, the fridge, she starts to trace the footprints of her own family history. At first tentatively, then digging ever deeper, wading in the found objects (the gumboots that she puts on are a nice image for this) she discovers the history of her Great-Grandfather, who moved to Namibia as part of the German colonial movement at the end of the 19th century and started a farm there. The malicious household on the stage represents a memory full of gaps and dark stains. Her investigation into her own history focuses on a dark chapter in German history, which is rarely spoken about. With charm, sometimes an acidic humour and a horrific undercurrent, Coetzee and her director Anne Hirth have staged it remarkably casually. This great art was rewarded with great applause.”
rheinische post, march 17th, 2008
„Her graceful solo piece slowly builds in intensity and pulls the audience into her family's complicated relationship with their adopted continent, as a commonplace mourning routine merges into rivers of memory."
exberliner, december 2007
„No Palm Trees. No Lions. No Monkeys." is a piece that moves through different phases of personal history like the shedding off of a skin, thereby also always revealing the history of the Germans in Namibia. The audience watches them fencing themselves off from the country they grew up in. The atrocities of the war of 1904-1908 are as much a theme as the gradual brutalisation of young German soldiers, who fought in this war against the Herero and Nama. It is also about German women, who were shipped to Namibia as potential wives for the soldiers. And it's about Namibia's German farmers' and settlers' fear of the future.
The piece is propelled forward by Yvette's recorded texts, which are played from off. In the opening scene, there is an unusually long passage in which the only character on stage says nothing. Recorded voices accompany us as we watch Yvette in her room. She makes coffee, brushes her teeth, lives through her daily routine, rummages through personal things, reads old letters and family documents, which lead her back not only to the arrival of her great-grandfather in Namibia, but to the division of Africa at the Congo Conference 1884.
Although the piece is a solo, we are not faced with a running monologue. It is neither exclusively a personal recount, nor is it a historically didactic lesson. That the audience is captivated by the piece for over an hour, testifies to an impressive, subtle performance and a strong script under the directing of Anne Hirth.
„No Palm Trees. No Lions. No Monkeys." is impressive theatre that should be performed not only in Germany, but also in Namibia. Against the background of the proposal to form an inter-parliamentary dialogue forum between Namibia and Germany, this theme is more than topical.
jane katjavivi, magazine of the german namibian society, spring 2008
A slide projector throws a picture onto the patterned wallpaper: a zebra walks by the pool. From off stage, one hears the tempting advertisement for safaris in Namibia. But the setting for Yvette Coetzee's scenic narrative looks different. The title "No Palm Trees. No Lions. No Monkeys." warns against false expectations. The shabby room is in a cold country, because the young woman lies on an armchair wrapped in a woollen blanket, her feet on a heater. The action on stage is no simple illustration of the text. It reveals an existence between two worlds. In Africa, Yvette Coetzee is no longer at home, in Berlin, her family history haunts her, doesn't allow her to settle down. In this production by Anne Hirth, Yvette Coetzee plays herself, an actress from South Africa who came to Berlin six years ago. In her daily routine, her history leaps up at her from all possible cracks. A meaningful text about the Herero war is read by the actress from paper strips on a shredded heap, which she'd found in a freezer. Just like the gramophone from which the voice of the grandmother comes. The complicated history of the fights amongst colonial powers is shown by Yvette Coetzee with the use of a chocolate cake, which she divides up as at a children's birthday party. At this moment, the comic talent of the actress, which is otherwise more reserved, flashes up. A contemplative, impressive evening of theatre.
eva pfister, westdeutsche zeitung, march 15th, 2008