MÁLAGA

(Or The Inner Ear)

by LUKAS BÄRFUSS

Translated by Neil Blackadder

Translation Funded by the Howard Foundation

Co-directed by Héctor Alvarez and Melissa Lorraine

November 1 - December 16, 2018 at The Ready

A couple has just split up, between them a child. Vera wants to go to Malaga for the weekend with her new boyfriend; Michael is due at a conference. The only available babysitter is hired quickly, despite countless red flags. Nevertheless, where there’s a will, there’s a way to soothe the voice of conscience. And once catastrophe is welcomed, it will not be governed.

Bärfuss tells stories that are related to our everyday lives but explore wide- ranging themes such as guilt, responsibility, individual fulfillment – funny, tragic, grotesque. Full of unexpected turns. Exciting. Bärfuss lets things start off like a piece of conversation and swell to a tragedy of Greek proportions. 

- Andreas Klaeui, Frankfurter Rundschau

Playwright Lukas Bärfuss - born in 1971 in Thun/Switzerland, is one of the most successful contemporary German dramatists. His plays are performed throughout the world. His debut novel »One Hundred Days« was a huge success, nominated for the German and Swiss Book Prizes and translated into 15 languages. Lukas Bärfuss lives in Zurich. 
Awards: Mühlheim Dramatist Prize (2005), Book Prize from the City of Bern (2005), Spycher Literature Prize (2007), Anna-Seghers Prize (2008), Mara-Cassens Prize for the best German debut novel (2009), Schiller Prize from the Swiss Schiller Foundation, Erich-Maria-Remarque Peace Prize (2009), Hans-Fallada Prize from the town of Neumünster (2010). 

More about Lukas Bärfuss 

Special thanks for generous support from the Embassy of Switzerland in the United States of America

Co-Director and Theatre Y Artistic Director Melissa Lorraine - Graduating from Northern Illinois University with a B.F.A. in acting, Lorraine became a company member of Studio K in Budapest, Hungary. Co-founding Theatre Y with now deceased Director Christopher Markle. Premiering the English language version of Transylvanian writer András Visky’s JULIET with over two hundred performances worldwide. Starring in Visky’s I KILLED MY MOTHER, earning a Chicago’s Best Actress Orgie Award. Lauded by The Chicago Reader for turning even an “overwritten” and “implausible script” into “probing, harrowing, hallucinogenic truth,” for her Directorial work on VINCENT RIVER. In 2013 Lorraine directed the world premiere of THE BINDING, a collaboration between Theatre Y and two acclaimed Serbian/Hungarian choreographers, which was a cover feature of the Chicago Reader. Collaborating with Georges Bigot for one year (2015-16), Lorraine developed the Theatre Y Ensemble of 12 actors, according to the traditions of the Theatre du Soleil. She now leads this ensemble to discover a common language and a new way to work, searching for a way to make theater without the “dictator”.

Co-Director and Theatre Y Ensemble Member Héctor Álvarez -  writer, actor and director from Spain based in Chicago. He has studied non-Western theater traditions in China, Japan and Indonesia, and in 2008 received a Watson Fellowship to research community-based performance in Latin America. He has a BA in Theater from Macalester College and an MA in Modern English Literature form University College London.He has trained with Augusto Boal, Peter Schumann, Malte Lambrecht, Guillermo Heras, Georges Bigot and Anne Bogart, and has performed in more than 20 productions. He has been an ensemble member of Theatre Y since 2015. In 2017 he presented his one-man show about gun violence The Ghoul Exhibition (directed by Melissa Lorraine), described by The Chicago Reader as “A deeply affecting solo show. Truly audacious.”

Theatre Y creates challenging and innovative theater that addresses the contradictions of the human experience. The following values and practices form the foundation of our work: 1) We operate as in international laboratory, inviting artists from diverse cultures and backgrounds, because this exchange enriches our work. 2) Inspired by director Anne Bogart, we believe that “all great life-changing work made for the theater has historically been made by companies.” That is why Theatre Y has constituted itself as an ensemble devoted to experimentation and artistic excellence. 3) Continuous, weekly training is critical for the health and development of our ensemble. 4) We make work for our community and have pledged to remove all financial barriers that would exclude anyone.