by Nick Hornby
Art? Enjoy. Destroy.
“Nothing much happened at first .. After about an hour, I got my first nutter.”
He doesn´t know a thing about art. But being a former bouncer, Dave gets hired to guard a controversial piece of art. “Jesus on the Cross” is ten feet high by six feet wide and was created in a, well, let’s say, different sort of way. There are people out there who won´t like it, and there are many ways of looking at it. While Dave develops his own relation to art and this particular piece, he begins defending it against his wife, the media and a whole bunch of religious fanatics. Then the shit hits the fan. In the end, his troubles come from an unexpected side.
“It’s a great play – Jesse does a fantastic job – he’s so gloriously angry at times – and it’s a riveting play, entertaining, fast-paced, in fact it’s over so quickly that you’re almost disappointed it’s finished.” Jacinta Nandi / TAZ
Nick Hornby´s NippleJesus is a warm and funny examination of our personal perspectives on modern art and the irreverent ways of the contemporary art world . What do we make of art and why? And who gets to decide what is art and what is not? How manipulative is the art world? Nick Hornby has a few interesting suggestions.
Jesse Inman is originally from Birmingham / UK and moved to Germany in 2003. Since then he has worked as a freelance actor and has been involved in various productions at English Theatre Berlin, the most recent of which was Playing Sandwiches, a part of Alan Bennett´s Talking Heads series. Since 2006 he has been working with the Swiss theater company FAR A DAY CAGE, has been an ensemble actor at Theater Basel since 2012. In the summer of 2015 will start acting at Schauspielhaus Wien. Along side theater work he has also been involved in various films such as Julie Delpy’s Countess and Lars von Triers Nymphomaniac.
Nick Hornby is an English writer born in 1957 in Surrey. He studied English at Jesus College, Cambridge. His first book, Fever Pitch (1992), was a huge success, followed by High Fidelity (1995) which was made into a film starring John Cusack and a Broadway musical. About a Boy, also adapted into a film starring Hugh Grant, came out in 1998. Hornby´s other novels are How to be Good (2001), A Long Way Down (2005), Slam (2007), Juliet, Naked (2009) and Funny Girl (2014). His short story collection includes Faith (1998), Not a Star (2000) and Otherwise Pandemonium (2005). He has written numerous essays mostly on music and literature. Hornby received, amongst numerous other awards and prizes, an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for Lone Scherfig´s film An Education (2009). He has been given the name “The maestro of the male confessional” for the brilliant portrayal of his male characters in his novels.
Pics: Jesse Inman as Dave: Casey Tower / Nick Hornby: Geraint Lewis
Featuring a post-performance discussion on Tuesday, July 14 in conjunction with Theater Scoutings Berlin!
- Fri, Jul 10 – Sat, Jul 25, 2015Main Stage
Performed by Jesse Inman
Directed and Designed by Günther Grosser
Lighting Design by Katri Kuusimäki
August 4 – 9, 2015 NippleJesus was part of the West Cork Fit-Up Theatre Festival in Ireland
Nick Hornbys NippleJesus
Von Kunst hat er nicht die blasseste Ahnung. Als ehemaliger Rausschmeißer in einem Club wird Dave nun von einem Museum angeheuert, um ein kontroverses Kunstwerk zu bewachen, einen drei Meter hohen und anderthalb Meter breiten Jesus am Kreuz, der aber, na ja, sagen wir: etwas anders ist. Es gibt Leute da draußen, denen wird das nicht gefallen, und es gibt nun mal die verschiedensten Blickwinkel, aus denen man sowas sehen kann. Dave jedoch entwickelt sein ganz eigenes Verhältnis zu dem Kunstwerk, nimmt es seiner Frau, den Medien und den religiösen Fanatikern gegenüber in Schutz. Dann kommen die Dinge ins Rollen. Die Enttäuschung allerdings kommt schließlich aus einer unerwarteten Ecke.
Nick Hornbys NippleJesus ist der warmherzige und humorvolle Blick auf die verschiedenartigen Perspektiven, aus denen man moderne Kunst und die ruchlose Kunstwelt sehen kann. Wie nehmen wir Kunst wahr und warum? Wer entscheidet eigentlich, was Kunst ist und was nicht? Und wie manipulativ ist die Kunstwelt? Nick Hornby macht ein paar sehr interessante Vorschläge.
Nick Hornby ist einer der erfolgreichsten zeitgenössischen Schriftsteller Englands. 1957 in Surrey geboren, studierte er Englische Literatur am Jesus College in Cambridge. Sein erster Roman Fever Pitch (1992) war ein Riesenerfolg, ebenso der zweite High Fidelity (1995), der mit John Cusack verfilmt und als Broadway-Musical produziert wurde. Es folgten die Romane About a Boy (1998, mit Hugh Grant verfilmt), How to Be Good (2001), A Long Way Down (2005), Slam (2007), Juliet, Naked (2009) und zuletzt Funny Girl (Miss Blackpool, 2014). Neben mehreren Bänden mit Erzählungen wie Faith (1998), Not a Star (2000) und Otherwise Pandemonium (2005) schrieb Hornby zahlreiche Essays über Musik und Literatur. Sein Drehbuch für den Film An Education von Lone Scherfig wurde für den Oscar nominiert. Wegen der brillant gezeichneten Männerfiguren seiner Romane nannte man Hornby den „Maestro der Männerbeichte“.