Family Is Conflict...

...and it's something that we all relate to." Bill Cosby apparently once said. 

Looking for a quote as a title I came across hundreds of quotes about families with approximately 99.99% positive which was no surprise to me. 

I suppose that despite all the quarrels, arguments, tensions, unspoken words  etc. in a lot of families on the outside a positive picture of a family is still tried to be presented. I will not lie, I personally cannot care less about mine, why does not matter, so to see a show about a family attending the patriarch's 80th birthday party, was, well, reminding me why I feel like that.
I personally cannot care about this show less... (maybe one reason why it took months to finish this... ;-) )

Familienbande - Hamburger Kammerspiele, Hamburg, 28th July, 2013

A Musical Evening Among Relatives by Lutz Hübner and Franz Wittenbrink 

Katharina Abt - Sabine
Tim Grobe - Albert/Josef
Caroline Kiesewetter - Regina/Johanna
Ben Knop - Julius
Julian Sengelmann - Johnny
Jasmin Wagner - Helena
Anne Wiese - Polly
Alice Wittmer - Nele

Director Franz-Joseph Dieken
Stage Design/Costumes - Sabine Kohlstedt, Yvonne Marcour
Musical Director - Matthias Kloppe
Musician - Fabian Schubert

Wittenbrink kinda "created" his musical evenings (Liederabende are they called in German - coincidently the action also takes places regularly at just one) a couple of years ago with usually each largely featuring well known rock pop songs, going back to the 60s/70s but also more modern, sometimes even a classical song, the odd own composition, occasionally the song lyrics get (slightly) adjusted to make them "work" (matter of opinion whether they do or not), adding some dialogues and et voilà ready is the show.

Sounds like a jukebox musical, doesn't it? For me it so does.

So Familienbande - another song evening and another show taking place at one evening: grandfather's 80th birthday party when all the lovely relatives meet up at an old country side restaurant though it does not take long till the majority of them are no longer lovely and nice but showing a different side/facet of their personality or maybe their true face, who knows.

There you have the frustrated daughter and her even more frustrated sister in law, both also totally overstrained with their teenage daughters. Then there is the broke son, also totally overstrained with his shop-aholic daughter, who is desperate to get some financial support from his parents, well his mother. Then there is besides the already mentioned three granddaughters the wannabe hip(hopper) grandson who, after learning of his uncle’s financial problems overhearing a secret conversation, causes for the typical scandal (and a lot more) near the end of the show. 

In between one more or less funny cliché follows the other, mother and daughter arguing, cousins teasing each other, cousin jealous of the other one because of some handsome boy friend, sister jealous of brother as closer to parent – you name the typical family problem and you can be sure it is in the show. One major I have with Wellenbrink shows is that with them often taking place on one evening there is usually hardly any time frame for character elaboration and development and the same happens here, even more than before because way too much is spent on nonsense ideas. There might be the odd moment where understanding and change shines through but that is usually just a snatch and no true development imo. 

The show, as said already, takes place in an old country restaurant, well in one particular dark-ish backroom to which the teenage grandchildren, as not wanted at the adult celebrations, have been shifted off with the parents and the grandmother regularly come to while you as audience just hear the odd noise and music from the actual celebration in the main room with “furniture” needed being kinda pull outs from the walls which looked a bit odd considering the location. 

Well as I already (I use that word way too often) summarised my opinion about the show, I really wanted to like the show despite the subject and my personal opinion about family, but the original idea still sounds like it could be fun and a the largely promising sounding cast made me go too to the premiere but what was delivered on stage was most lame. 

The odd scene may not be, but the overall show is, despite its shortness with just a 90 minutes running time (1 act only), dull and in several scenes I once gain caught myself drifting off paying way too much attention to weird looking costume details and so on. 

There are just so many strident clichés I can take in – and there is no scene which is not exaggerated of family disasters focusing way too much on the exaggeration than on anything else that the show totally forgets about the characters and a coherent clear common thread. Maybe with a couple of drinks this might be different but with also the music being anything but creative being either recycled music from various centuries, largely well known pop mainstream to uninspired compositions by Wellenbrink it stays so meaningless without ever really going beyond bland entertainment and never delivers something new. 

For some people this collection of such scenes full of slapstick and cheap jokes might be enough but for me it is simply not. Yes, I might have smiled a few times, even laughed, but overall this show is not more, not less than the same cheap kind of entertainment seen too often at the Schmidt Theater . 

There is absolutely nothing sincere and sharp tongued in this show that if it wasn’t for the cast I would say this show is a total miss and seeing reactions around me during the show and at curtain call with the applause being one of the lamest I have ever seen at that theatre for a long time I am sure I was not on my own with that opinion. 

Directed decently making the best out of the original by Franz-Joseph Dieken though even he cannot manage to breathe life into the characters the cast can largely satisfy. Saying that though the most well known ones to the audience were for me personally the disappointments in this show. 

Jasmin Wagner, once known as the teeny star Blümchen in the 1990s, as the geeky Helena is just dull. Her character has the only actually truly funny number in the show when she is rehearsing a serenade for her grandfather – in the style of a cheerleader with pompons and everything. But while I certain may have laughed she totally missed the edge of it losing the geeky-ness I just expect to stay visible even when performing such an act. Not that the geek felt natural, always a bit too artificial, too off, too forced that made me once again cringe. 

The other one known is Katharina Abt I more know from some ridiculous German TV series. She must have either been told to reinvent overacting or thought she had. Ouch. But maybe she thought she could cover her weak vocal musical capabilities with that – and I do not mean technique, she may have that but her lack in putting feelings, emotions in songs even if it is just a pop song. Seriously, these two just showed me again that just casting for the sake of some household names (how big ever) when someone better but less known might have missed out on a job is a farce. It is something I do not want to see, I want people who can do the job. Period. 

But at least there were others as the wonderful Caroline Kiesewetter is in her double role as the grandmother and daughter Johanna enjoyable. Caroline, whom I had seen the last time before at the Theater Lüneburg in a dire production of Jekyll & Hyde but she being a highlight is again one here. Especially her Johanna, single paranoid mum and yoga teacher, is so hilariously hyped up that even with the flat dialogues her character feel alive somehow and when she complains about being and feeling excluded from the family and society her play feels honest and believable, even if occasionally too OTT but again, this is due to the OTT character being a freaky stuck in the 80s yoga teacher and being “anti everything and everyone” game/protest and that she is a fantastic soulful singer is of no doubt. 

Tim Grobe is her male pendant in his double role as the grandfather who though only appears briefly and son who can especially with his sonorous powerful impress. And despite the son being a prick losing his money etc. and then begging at his father’s birthday party for money he manages to make him somehow a bit likeable and believable reminding with his play that such a thing can easily happen to others.

Anne Wiese as Polly is decent, not keen on her singing at all lacking technique but she at least could show feelings in her singing and her acting portraying the spoilt bitchy Polly was authentic (the costumes though she wore were a joke looking so cheap, so not like clothes a fashion addict as Polly would wear)

Musically the cast is supported by Fabian Schubert, suppose a financial decision to not have a proper band as at other theatres where this show was on but a one man orchestra is a bit cheap and it lacks depth what is needed for some songs and with tickets now close to 50 EUR the shows at the Kammerspiele are not as affordable as they used to be 2,3 years ago.

Julian Sengelmann as Nele's boyfriend didn't have much stage time but made the best out of it especially performing the songs he has most well. 

My two favourites in the show and let's be honest, the two reasons I discovered in High Fidelity, why I went in the first place as I had already seen other Wellenbrink "Liederabende" and hardly ever keen on them so going to another one was like "I really do not want to", were of no disappointment. 

The lovely Ben Knop has the "luck" of playing the imo most ridiculous character in the show - the chubby, hip hop or rap or whatever (I have no clue about the differences,it all sounds the same to me) liking and sexually confused cousin Julius who has to perform a rap cross over number which is so not his style but he makes the best out of it and when his character causes some turmoil I can for once sincerely laugh about what is happening on stage. 

And last but definitely not least my favourite red head on stage the adorable Alice Wittmer as the sweet do-gooder Nele can shine again with her tender caring play and the numbers she sings fill the theatre with for once feel good moments that I actually wished that I was not watching this show but seeing her in some other good one (as High Fidelity but a bigger part for her) where she could really show off her talent. 

Overall a night I do not want to repeat and despite having a ticket for another show later in the run but I decided not to go. I just could not face sitting through it one more time.