City Garage presents

Katzelmacher (Cat Screwer)

by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

translated by Denis Calandra

March 21 — May 11, 2003

Directed & Adapted by Frederíque Michel

Production Design by Charles A. Duncombe, Jr.

Assistant Director Paul M. Rubenstein

CAST

Maia Brewton Helga

Maureen Byrnes Elisabeth

Laurence Coven Franz

David E. Frank Paul

Mathew Gifford Erich

Katharina Lejona Gunda

Steve Najarro Jorgos

Szilvi Naray-Davey Ingrid

Bo Roberts Bruno

Kathryn Sheer Marie

Production Staff

Set & Lighting Design Charles A. Duncombe, Jr.

Sound Design, Assistant Director Paul M. Rubenstein

Costume Design Erin Vincent

Light/Sound Operator Jason Piazza

Photography Rick Pickman

Place: Outside Munich, Germany

Time: 1966

The play runs approximately 70 minutes and is performed without intermission.

ABOUT THE TEXT

Katzelmacher's premiere in 1968 marked Fassbinder's debut as a playwright. Just 22 at the time, the characters he depicts are figures out of his own experience: the late-60s "youth culture" that was then turning Europe upside down. The play treats a universal theme_fear and distrust of the outsider_but roots its story firmly in a place Fassbinder knew well, his native Bavaria, a state in southern Germany.

As the play begins, the first government-approved foreign worker (or "guest laborer") arrives in town, causing an uproar. The men's jobs and the women's virtue are suddenly perceived as equally insecure, and something, inevitably, will have to give. In America it is a story that has played out many times; we are a nation of immigrants, and each new color, creed, and accent to reach these shores has met the animosity of those who came before. But despite these difficulties, the abstract notion of a "melting pot" is embedded in the national identity. Germany, however, is still growing accustomed to the idea of newcomers, so the natives' reactions are even stronger, the resulting situation even more volatile. It was only with the massive upheavals of World War II and the demand for cheap labor brought on by the rapid economic growth of the postwar era that significant minority populations developed in Germany. Even today heritage counts for more than longevity in German immigration law; third generation residents of Turkish descent (the country's largest ethnic minority) are often denied citizenship, while German-speaking immigrants are welcomed as a matter of course. Bavaria, where the play is set, is even more hidebound: conservative, traditional, largely rural, and staunchly Catholic (in contrast to the nation's majority Protestantism), even its accent is regarded as a mark of provincialism by many other Germans. And while much of West Germany began importing "guest laborers" in the mid-1950s, Bavaria was among the last regions to bring in foreign workers to fill low-skill, low-wage jobs.

It is to this parochial, self-consumed place that Jorgos, the "katzelmacher" of the play's title, comes for his new job. (The word "katzelmacher" is Bavarian slang for a foreign worker, the implication being that such people are interested in nothing but sex, that they screw like cats.) Immediately, the women are drawn to him and the men feel threatened, both sexually and in their work-lives. This "dangerous" stranger upsets things not by anything that he does but simply by his presence. Indeed, he does almost nothing at all. He works, he drinks, he meets a girl who's probably looking for a ticket out of town as much as she's interested in what she's found in him. But all the while the people around him, accustomed as they are to gossiping and backbiting, are spinning lies about his "foreign habits" and "commie" politics_as well as his sexual appetites and prodigious endowment_that eventually arouse the collective will to take action against him.

None of us are without our prejudices or our fears, and it is at the intersection of prejudice and fear that violence is born. Katzelmacher demands that we look at the nature of prejudice from a surprising number of perspectives, and by ultimately confounding our efforts to assign easy roles to the players_victim and oppressor, innocent and guilty_it asks us to look more closely at our own prejudices, and to examine the hypocrisies they engender.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A larger than life figure, Rainer Werner Fassbinder embodied a "live hard, die young" ethos. But despite his reckless use of both substances and sexual partners, he was a prolific artist, completing 41 critically acclaimed feature films and many theatre pieces between 1967 and 1982, when he died of a drug overdose at the age of 36. After joining the Action Theatre in 1966, he soon came to dominate, by dint of sheer personality and artistic drive, a sub-set of that group, his "antitheatre." Working with these performers, exclusively at first, but more sporadically as time went on, Fassbinder created some of postwar Germany's most memorable films and theatre pieces. Among the plays are Pre-Paradise Sorry Now (1969); Blood On a Cat's Neck (1971); and Garbage, The City and Death (1974) (all previously produced by City Garage); the films, of course, are much more well-known: The Marriage of Maria Braun; The Bitter Tears of Petra Van Kant, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, Fox and his Friends, Lola, and his masterpiece, made for television in 1980, the fifteen-and-a-half hour Berlin Alexanderplatz. Themes of oppression and despair run through his works, but also a ferociously raw immediacy that keeps them from melancholy and self-obsessed introspection. Always a critical favorite, around the time of his death Fassbinder was beginning to reach significant mainstream audiences, and since dying his popularity and his myth have only grown.

program notes by Paul M. Rubenstein

Imitations of Life:

The Legacy of Rainer Werner Fassbinder

This production is presented in association with the Los Angeles County Musuem of Art's 16 film retrospective (which includes the 1969 screen version of Katzelmacher) running from April 14_April 26. Tickets may be purchased at LACMA's ticket office or by calling toll-free 1-877-522-6225. Landmark's Nuart Theatre is screening three additional Fassbinder films the week of March 28_April 3. For more information call 310-478-6379.

This production is supported, in part, by grants from the Goethe Institut Los Angeles, the Wells Fargo Foundation, the California Arts Council, and Rocket Science Laboratories.

Katzelmacher is presented by special arrangement with the Elisabeth Marton Agency.

CAST PROFILES

Maia Brewton

Helga

This year marks 21 blissful years in performance for Maia. She has appeared at City Garage in The Girl In The Flammable Skirt, Titus Tartar, and Cinema Stories: Ceremonies of Unendurable Bondage.

Maureen Byrnes

Elisabeth

Maureen has appeared in theatre all over the U.S. and Canada and throughout Europe. Her most notable performance was in Oh, Calcutta! on Broadway in which she danced a nude pas de deux. She previously appeared in The Presidents, Frederick of Prussia/GeorgeW's Dream of Sleep, The Gertrude Stein Project, and The Girl In The Flammable Skirt at City Garage and is happy to once again be working with Frederique Michel.

Laurence Coven

Franz

Laurence Coven acted in Chicago for many years before moving to Los Angeles. For five years he worked at the famed The Second City improvisational comedy theater, both as a member of the Mainstage Company and as director of its National Touring Co. Later, he and Del Close and Warren Leming formed The Post-Rational Players, who were hailed for their smart, edgy, groundbreaking satirical comedy. He also appeared in many other Chicago-area theaters, performing major roles in productions of Paddy Chayefsky's The Tenth Man, Odets' Awake and Sing, Christie's The Mousetrap, a revival of Paul Sills Story theater under Sills' direction, and many more. He was most recently seen at City Garage in Cinema Stories: Ceremonies of Unendurable Bondage.

David E. Frank

Paul

David is originally from Muncie, Indiana, where he received his degree in Theatre Performance from Ball State University. In addition to his work at BSU, he also appeared with the Vagabond Players, the Third Age Theatre Company, and The Muncie Civic Theater. His credits at City Garage include MedeaText: Los Angeles Despoiled Shore, Atrocities: Meetings With Monstrous Men, The Skriker, Frederick of Prussia/GeorgeW's Dream of Sleep, and The Gertrude Stein Project.

Mathew Gifford

Erich

Born and raised in rural Minnesota, Mathew graduated from St. John's University (the one with the monks) with degrees in both Economics and French. He then moved to Cannes, France and taught French to foreigners at an international language school where theatre was used as a teaching tool. Shortly after, he became the first American to be selected to attend L'ERAC, a private, government-funded acting school in the south of France. He then spent several years acting in French in the various theatres of Paris, both national and independent. Mathew previously appeared at City Garage in Cinema Stories: Ceremonies of Unendurable Bondage.

Katharina Lejona

Gunda

Katharina made her City Garage debut as the Mother in Tadeusz Rozewicz's Mariage Blanc and has since appeared in MedeaText: Los Angeles/Despoiled Shore, The Presidents, The Skriker, The Queens, The Gertrude Stein Project, and Titus Tartar.

Steve Najarro

Jorgos

This is Steve's first production at City Garage. He received a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Cal State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and continues to work on his craft at City Garage. Steve is a Southern California native who prides himself on his long time passion for the theatre and a commitment to working with unique ensembles.

Szilvi Naray-Davey

Ingrid

Born in Hungary, Szilvi grew up in Budapest, Geneva, and London. After getting her B.A. in Drama and Theatre Arts from the University of London, she went on to study acting in New York and performed off-off Broadway. In Los Angeles she has been working in independent films and recently co-produced and starred in The Perfect Wife, a feature film written and directed by her husband. She is also a mom to a 15 month old boy and a fencing coach, having competed for 19 years at the national and international levels. This marks Szilvi's City Garage debut and she is excited to be working with the company.

Bo Roberts

Bruno

Bo has previously performed at City Garage in Blood On A Cat's Neck; The Universal Wolf; Wantons, Rogues and Libertines; George Sand: An Erotic Odyssey in Seven Tableaux; Journey's Among the Dead; Pre-Paradise Sorry Now; Mariage Blanc, The Fetishist, Atrocities, The Girl In the Flammable Skirt, and Titus Tartar.

Kathryn Sheer

Marie

Kathryn has been with City Garage for two years. She previously appeared here in The Queens, The Gertrude Stein Project, and Cinema Stories: Ceremonies of Unendurable Bondage.

STAFF PROFILES

Frederíque Michel, Artistic Director

Director

Frederique was born in Paris and studied theatre at the Conservatoire. She has directed more than seventy productions in the United States, including works by Strindberg, Rozewicz, Vinaver, Horowitz, Fornes and Barker. She received a Dramalogue award for her direction of Dissident, and has led the company as Artistic Director since its founding in 1987. Her 1998 production of George Sand: An Erotic Odyssey in Seven Tableaux was nominated for four L.A. Weekly Theater Awards, including Best Director. She was nominated again for Best Director for MedeaText: Los Angeles/Despoiled Shore (2000).

Charles A. Duncombe, Managing Director

Production Designer

Charles is a writer, director and designer. He began his partnership with Frederique Michel in 1985 with her production of Miss Julie, and he has designed all of her work since then. He has won two Dramalogue awards for production design and in 1999 won the L.A. Weekly Theater Award for Best Lighting Design for George Sand: An Erotic Odyssey in Seven Tableaux (1998). He was nominated for two L.A. Weekly awards for MedeaText: Los Angeles/Despoiled Shore (2000): Best Adaptation, and Best Set. He was nominated again for two L.A. Weekly awards for Frederick of Prussia/GeorgeW's Dream of Sleep (2001): Best Adaptation, and Production Design.

Paul M. Rubenstein, General Manager

Assistant Director

Paul most recently appeared at City Garage in Titus Tartar. He made his debut with the company as a part of the LA Weekly Theater Award-nominated ensemble from George Sand: An Erotic Odyssey in Seven Tableaux and received a Backstage West Garlands Award Honorable Mention for his work in the US premiere of Ionesco's haunting valedictory, Journeys Among The Dead. This is his 13th production with City Garage.

Jason Piazza

Light/Sound Operator

Jason's appeared onstage at City Garage in last year's Cinema Stories: Ceremonies of Unendurable Bondage. He previously served as the Light/Sound Operator for Titus Tartar.