I-Fest 2006:
Clemens Schick, Germany

Chopin Productions

I-Fest 2006 is the second annual festival of international solo performances celebrating individuality.

Clemens Schick in Windows or Must We Imagine Bill Gates as a Happy Man?


11/2/06 - 11/12/06

Various


Windows or Must We Imagine Bill Gates as a Happy Man? – Mathias Greffrath - Bill Gates: Richest man in the world, a pioneer, the Napoleon of the internet community, hostile monopolist, and well on his way to being mythic. He must be the first, the fastest.

Tomorrow the founder of Microsoft will introduce "Phase 3" to the United Nations, an enhancement of "Windows" for the ultimate mastery over insecurity: worldwide abolishment of peril, be it from terrorism, market fluctuations, or human error. A great day, an important day. Yet, during a work break the mastermind begins to ruminate, becomes uneasy and plagued with despair. Is something missing? How does one ensure that the world is really secure? For human kind. For Microsoft. For Bill Gates. Peace on earth and eternal life.

Clemens Schick, Actor - Mr. Schick was born in 1972 and completed his education at the Berliner Schule für Schauspiel (Berlin School of Theatre) He has worked with the Landestheater Altmark Stendal, the Staatsschauspiel Dresden, the Schauspiel Frankfurt, the Schauspielhaus Wien, the Schaubühne Berlin, the Sophiensaele, Kampnagel, the Renaissance Theater, the Staatstheater Stuttgart, the Schauspielhaus Zürich, and the Deutsche Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. In addition to his theatre work, he appears in film and television. Since 2002 he has been a permanent member of the ensemble at "Schauspielhannover" and plays in "Eine Unbekannte aus der Seine" (The Stranger from Siene), "Die Brüder Löwenherz" (The Brothers Lionheart), "Mamma Medea" and Alica in Wonderland.

Mathias Greffrath, Author - Sociologist and Journalist, Mathias Greffrath, was born in 1945. He has worked for the station "Freies Berlin," the weekly paper, "Die Zeit" and was Editor in Chief for the "Wochenpost" from 1991 - 1994. Since that time he has acted as a publicist and written for the "Süddeutsche Zeitung," the "Tageszeitung," and "Die Zeit." Among his book publications are "Montaigne heute. Leben in Zwischenzeiten" (Montaigne Today: Life in Transitional Times) (Zürich, 1999) and "Attac. Was wollen die Globalisierungskritiker?" (Attac. What do the Critics of Globalization want?) (Berlin, 2002).Matthias Greffrath lives in Berlin and Burgund. His work "Windows oder Müssen wir uns Bill Gates als einen glücklichen Menschen vorstellen?" was adopted by Clemens Schick and Elias Perrig, with its debut in 2004 at the "Schauspielhannover."

Elias Perrig, Director - Mr. Perrig was born as a Swiss citizen in Hamburg in 1965. After a few semesters of Biochemistry he changed his concentration to Theatre. Since 1995 he has acted as director at Theater Lübeck, Staatstheater Kassel, Konstanz, Theater Neumarkt in Zürich and, above all, in the Staatstheatre Stuttgart. There he staged, among other plays, the German premier performance of Connor McPhersons, "Das Wehr" and, most recently, "Antigone." In 1998 he was awarded the Prize for Young Directors by the Germany Academy of Art. His production of "Der letzte Henker" (The Last Hangman), which was adopted as a project by many Swiss theatres, won considerable critical acclaim, and was invited as the Swiss entry to the Bonn Biennial of 2000. For the Schauspielhannover he staged Kleists, "Das Käthchen

".The Actor is a tremendous windfall for this production. He captivates without words - a coy glance or awkward hand gesture suffices..Occasionally it transgresses the boundary into comedy, and here and there Scheck himself has to laugh. This is entirely legitimate, the audience overwhelms him , his production team and the , lastly, the author with cheers and enthusiastic noise. .." - Cellesche Zeitung, June 8, 2004

"The play also depicts: Bill Gates or how from a dreamer a visionary is made. Fantastic. Absurd. Hilarious." - Göttinger Tageblatt, September 5, 2005

"It is with great vehemence, enormous expressiveness, and the occasional flair of a stand-up comedian, that Clemens Scheck slips into the role of Bill Gates, exploits his dream of having long blonde tresses as a running gag, and cogitates the digital visions so thoroughly to their conclusion that they are not only absurd; but, also hilarious. Yet, one is left with a feeling of sympathy for Gates. However, whether he is really a happy man remains an open question. Standing ovation." - Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, June 7, 2004

Author
Marthias Greffrath

Director
Elias Perrig

Performers
Clemens Schick

Production
Chopin Productions

Tags: Festival, Old Europe, 2006