On a sunny Saturday morning in Stellwork, a children’s’ and young people’s theatre beside Weimar’s railway station in central Germany, Andy Manley is performing his Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland winning show, Stick by Me. Manley’s almost wordless tale, created with director Ian Cameron and produced by Red Bridge Arts, sees him duet with a series of ice-lolly sticks in a show that taps into a series of physical set-piece that looks at big worldly subjects of death, loss, love and friendship. Manley’s creation also taps into an international language of fun that pervades throughout Weimar Kunstfest, the multi-artform festival that takes place annually over three weeks in late August and early September. Now in its thirtieth year, Weimar Kunstfest takes place in the former East German city more readily associated with the heavyweight seriousness of Goethe, Schiller and Liszt, all former residents. This was prior to the city opening Germany up to its first democracy in 19
An archive of arts writing by Neil Cooper. Effete No Obstacle.