Kaspar

Synopsis

Inspired by the true story of Kaspar Hauser, an unsocialised foundling, discovered in Nuremberg in 1828, Handke looks at how an individual can be created and destroyed through an indoctrination of linguistic order. Following the journey of a helpless figure we see him stripped of his identity and forced into a mass existence through the verbal violent underage of the 'Prompters'. Contains some strong language. Suitable for 15+years.

Our Review:

3 February 2011

Peter Handke, and Austrian post-modern playwright, wrote Kaspar in 1968. Presented by Aya Theatre company in a disused railway arch in Southwark, this short play is largely performed by one actor, Ryan Kiggell, who takes the title role. Based on the true story of Kaspar Hauser who, aged 16, was only able to speak one sentence, the play opens with a lengthy sequence in which Kiggell recites "I want to be someone like somebody else once was" repeatedly, investigating every permutation of vocal inflection.

Projected voices bombard Kaspar from the four corners of the sparse and expansive area of this new performance space. Initially a puppet without a master, Kaspar responds to the instruction he receives and begins a (sometimes cripplingly) slow process of learning, via comparison and extrapolation.

Kiggell’s physical choreography is perfectly synced with the rhythm of the audio delivery. It’s strange to see a grown man, albeit in a s...

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