#maybe 2015-2017 were just cursed because the best thing that happened was i discovered a favorite movie from a boy super bad at sex

[bettercostume]

niche but i love when i learn tidbits of how mutuals were going through major depressive episodes in the same years i was lol

[robrpatz]

Robert Pattinson new interview in Elle Magazine ( March 2020)

ELLE: You started acting when you were 18 years old, and in 15 years you’ve made 34 movies (and won eight awards…). Why do stay so active? What moves you?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Now I have more fun making movies! The more I learn about how to do things, the more doors it opens to my mind. And the more comfortable you feel, the freer you’ll feel as well. I used to think in acting as a test, in which there was the possibility to fail. But when you stop thinking about the result…You never know if it will be good or bad, so the best thing is to enjoy it! And, as soon as you start behaving like that, everything becomes funnier.

ELLE: And, as you get older, maybe you can choose the roles you want to play and who you want to work with?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Yes. It happens when you get older and [you] do more projects. You can talk to the director. It’s more of creative collaboration. When you’re younger, you have that school mentality. Someone is telling you what to do and so you just feel like saying no all the time. But then you realize that they are all in the same boat. And that everyone wants to make a good movie!

ELLE: What would you say to the teachers who discouraged you from joining the theater club?

ROBERT PATTINSON: I’m glad they did. When I think about it now … At the time, I was so angry that I didn’t want to have anything to do with the arts at school. And then, I ended up getting an agent, which wouldn’t have happened if I had een a part of the school’s drama club. Sometimes having a little bit of resentment is pretty good. It gives you more fire [energy].”

ELLE: Do you really think that you managed to attract a more “male” audience, as some professionals in the field suggested after Cosmopolis?

ROBERT PATTINSON: To be honest, I never thought about an audience. But the first time I noticed that men accepted me better must have been with Good Time. And it was a little strange … But, again, it’s the same logic as the drama teacher. I liked it when the male audience said to me “Oh, you’re an idiot”, because it made me want to go to the fight! These things give you energy. What’s dangerous is not having enemies. We always need good enemy!

ELLE: Do you read reviews about you on the internet?

ROBERT PATTINSON: When a movie comes out? Yes.

ELLE: What about the bad ones, does it affect you or do you consider yourself strong enough to deal with it?

ROBERT PATTINSON: When I was younger, it affected me. But now … it’s a strangely addictive thing. Reading the bad reviews is more addictive than reading the good ones. You can read a hundred good ones and a bad and, I don’t know if that’s because of that, but now the bad ones don’t affect me anymore. Unless they involve someone else. If it’s just about me, I can take it.

ELLE: What if it’s about someone important to you?

ROBERT PATTINSON: It doesn’t happen much. And I think I can separate things well. It’s one of the advantages of not having an Instagram account. Access is cut off. I’ve always had a barrier and that’s why there’s no problem. It’s all just noise.

ELLE: You’re turning 34 soon and you’re going to be a part of the so-called Millennial. What does it mean to you? Do you recognize yourself as a member of that generation?

ROBERT PATTINSON: I think I’m another last stronghold of the previous generation. I don’t feel like a Millennial at all. Many of the things that people think are important, such as social networks … are not at all important to me. They annoy me. I don’t see what it is the reason to have, to publish, to take pictures of myself and put them online … It all seems crazy to me.

ELLE: You’ve made a lot of movies lately. Waiting for the Barbarians, The King (Netflix), The Devil All The Time, The Lighthouse and Tenet (currently being shot). How many scripts do you receive per month? It’s you who choose each role?

ROBERT PATTINSON: To be honest, I don’t receive that many scripts. Except when it comes to a director I really want to work with. When I’m not working, I read a lot of scripts, but right now… I find it very difficult to read a script when you’re working on another project. I cannot understand it completely. But I love to discover filmmakers that my agents don’t know about!

ELLE: And the movie you’re filming now, Tenet? Can you talk about it?

ROBERT PATTINSON: I can’t say anything about Tenet… nor about Batman! Anyways, I don’t know anything. I’m only starting Batman next year. We’re not even filming yet.

ELLE: After all the artistic films you’ve made, was it difficult for you to decide to be in a film like Batman?

ROBERT PATTINSON: No, I wanted to do it. In every new job, I’ve been trying to do the opposite of the previous one, to be able to surprise myself. And I don’t know why, but at the end of last year, I was thinking I really wanted to do a big movie. I hadn’t think about exactly what it could be, and then Chris Nolan and Tenet came in and Batman came out shortly after. I had been making small movies, I was already relatively comfortable in what I was doing for a while, I didn’t even get nervous anymore. Not even with Tenet, which is a great production. I think it was also because of the directors. I can totally trust Chris Nolan and Matt Reeves. They are very unique filmmakers to whom I would immediately say yes if I wanted to make a smaller film.

ELLE: Do you have to physically prepare to step into Batman’s shoes? Is that the reason why you’ve been running a lot lately?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Yes. As soon as I finish this job, I will immediately start intensive training. In fact, it is quite pleasant, because I have been doing so many hours in the Chris Nolan film that the idea of, for a few months, being really healthy, just doing physical exercise and sleeping seems like a real dream! I can’t wait! But yes, I’ve never been a big guy. So I have a certain curiosity about what it’s like to be.

ELLE: You’re the face of Dior Homme since five years ago. How did this colaboration started and what does it means to you?

ROBERT PATTINSON: I think it was before that. I met them in 2012. I wasn’t thinking about doing anything like this. But when I met them, I liked the team very much, the three people who talked to me at the beginning. They’re really cool. And Dior is Dior!

ELLE: That was your first ad? Is it the only one until now?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Yes. The only one! Basically, I really liked the way they presented the project to me. At the beginning, I wanted to work with Romain Gavras. And, at the first meeting, I asked: “Can we do it with Romain?” And they said “Yes, it’s a great idea!”. It’s great to work with Dior. I never went to the shows in Paris before, and I never even thought about it. But now I look forward to them every year. With Dior, I have all the glamor of acting, but without the hardest part! When you’re making a movie, you work 20 hours a day, you’re exhausted all the time. This collaboration is fast and very funny. It’s the best job ever!

ELLE: Do you like to discover underground artists? How was it to shoot the new Dior Homme campaign with the french avant-guard duo, The Blaze (Guillaume and Jonathan Alrie)? Have you met them before?

ROBERT PATTINSON: It was great! I met them in Cannes in 2017* (they were DJs at the Good Time party) and I was talking to them about making a movie together because their films are so cool. They know what performance is. And when it came to Dior, I didn’t even have anything to do with it. When I heard it, I thought, “Oh, this is great, because it’s a big ad, and they are quite unknown. something like that! Their music is great.

ELLE: There is a dance moment in the ad. It seems to be “possessed”. Any preparation?

ROBERT PATTINSON: A shot of tequila and nothing else! I was literally in the dark. I couldn’t see anyone around me.

ELLE: Do you like dancing, in real life?

ROBERT PATTINSON: I was always very shy to dance, so when I did that, my thought was,”Oh, I broke the curse. Now I can dance in front of people!” About two weeks later, I went to a party, everyone was dancing and I threw myself on the dance floor and it was like “Yes, it’s okay. You just have to dance!”

ELLE: How do you feel when you see yourself in a Dior outdoor?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Actually, I’ve never seen any! I’m always walking around airports and thinking,“ How is Johnny Deep’s here and not mine?” It’s always Johnny Depp! [Laughs] ” What beauty care do you have? A diet, a routine? “Yes, now, at 30, I really think about what I eat. I didn’t try very hard, I ate pizza at three in the morning, but… if you don’t eat well – especially when you’re always working – you can’t even survive.

ELLE: What’s the best way to turn off and relax?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Probably, running. As soon as you get used to running, I think it’s better than anything else. It clears the mind so much! But what I really like nowadays is finding ways to sleep better. I’m obsessed with sleep masks, meditation apps, essential oils… I LOVE those things!

ELLE: Do you have any sleep disorder?

ROBERT PATTINSON: A bit. I don’t take pills to sleep. But I love that moment when you fall asleep! So, I got a good sleep mask that helps me fall asleep anywhere. On set, I sit on a chair, put the sleep mask and fall asleep quickly … in front of everyone.

ELLE: Are you narcoleptic?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Maybe! [Laughs]

ELLE: And talking about music, what’s on your playlist?

ROBERT PATTINSON: I’ll see … (opens Spotify on his phone) … what have I been listening to … Oh [Message on the screen] … I didn’t pay my last bill … [Laughs] … changing my credit card … I’ve been hear a lot of Aretha Franklin and that sort of classic stuff. When I can!

ELLE: How would you define your style?

ROBERT PATTINSON: It depends. You know what? There is this thing about sneakers. I use these Adidas from a collaboration with Palace, which were made in 2015. They are no longer produced. And I use different pairs… I have about 20 pairs of these sneakers in all colors and I use them every day! And when some go bad, it’s scary, because there are only a few left. I already called the company to see if they had any extra stock they didn’t sell.

ELLE: Are you a kind maniac?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Yes, with these shoes. I wear the same pair of shoes for five weeks in a row, and I have an alert on eBay. Whenever my size appears, I buy it immediately!

ELLE: Today you’re fully dressed in black, but we’ve already seen you wearing extravagant clothes on the red carpet such as capes.

ROBERT PATTINSON: I didn’t think much about what I’m wearing today, but I like to wear crazy things, and I think that if I didn’t work with Dior, I would be a little more shy about using more extravagant pieces. With the collection created by Kim Jones, now it makes even more sense (Note: Pattinson was also the first Dior Homme ready-to-wear ambassador).

ELLE: Would you wear a colour such as pink?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Yes, I like the contrast, although a few year ago, when I shaved my hair, wore a lot more pink. When you have you hair dyed blond, long, seems like you’re in Miami Vice. But yes, if I had my hair shaved, I’d definitely wear skirts and stuff like that.

ELLE: What would you never wear?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Hum… I don’t like serious and perfect things. But I’ll probably wear then at some point of my career.

ELLE: You confessed ELLE that you obsessed with Kate Moss and Jane Fonda when you were young. Have you met them?

ROBERT PATTINSON: I met Kate Moss and was with her a couple of times, doing things for Dior. And I haven’t met Jane Fonda yet, but I’m still a huge fan of her.

ELLE: She is an activist like you, Robert. You are collaborating directly with GO Campaign. What does this NGO do?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Go Campaign improves the lives of orphans and vulnerable children worldwide by creating local partnerships and solutions. All the children have the right to have opportunities, education, medical care, food, water… Two of my friends worked for them and told me to go to an event, five years ago or so. They made an auction and built a school in Cambodja. It is a completely transparent and very efficient non-profit organization. Over the past five years, it has become much bigger than it was when I started working with them.

ELLE: And now there’s a Robert Pattinson School?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Yes! And the school has been growing every year. I’m really proud of it.

ELLE: What keeps you alive and motivated in general?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Actually, I only do things to have fun. Your body tells you how to live your life if you listen to it carefully. There were bad times. I watched Amy Winehouse’ documentary a few years ago. And Tony Bennett said something that touched me, “Life shows how to live, if you live enough”, or something like that, I can’t remember the exact quote. As you get older, the more your body tells what to eat, what to do, tells you everything. If you listen to it and pay attention! And if you’re not having fun doing a certain thing, stop. As soon as you start living like that, you start to feel always well.

ELLE: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

ROBERT PATTINSON: I would love to have a production company. There’s a part of me that would like to record an album- but I don’t know if it will ever happen. I like to make long-term plans. That is the key of happiness. That’s it and having plans for the future – everything you build is towards a goal. And you have to have those plans!”

ELLE: What was the strangest thing that happened to you?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Become an actor! The strangest thing in my entire life! I really don’t know how it happened.

ELLE: What do you like the most about your friends?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Positive attitude. I don’t like people who like to complain. It’s really boring.

ELLE: Your biggest flaw?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Pfff, none [Laugh]. Actually, how do you say it? Procrastinate. I postpone everything, really everything, until the last minute.

ELLE: Your idea of happiness?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Being in very creative places. I’m very happy in the initial stage of the work of a creative project before the problems start. When everyone is very excited.

ELLE: Your idea of unhappiness?

ROBERT PATTINSON: When people that I love are worried about something and I can’t help them. And repetitive things. Like being stuck in a circle with the same things always happening. That’s unhappiness to me. Like in that Bill Murray’s movie, Groundhog Day.

ELLE: If you weren’t Robert Pattinson, who would you like to be?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Probably a dog. I think I’ll be one in my next like, almost certainly.

ELLE: The heroes of you’re life?

ROBERT PATTINSON: As I get older, the more my parents are. But when I was younger, were a lot of rappers. They were the first people I saw who didn’t care about what people would think about them. It looked like they were showing the middle finger to everyone.

ELLE: Favourite cult movie?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Probably Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

ELLE: Favourite series?

ROBERT PATTINSON: The Wire. It is a tv series about a policeman and criminals in Baltimore.

ELLE: A director that you admire?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Claire Denis. I admire her a lot.

ELLE: Favourite book?

ROBERT PATTINSON: I’ve been reading a lot of Batman comics lately. I’ve also read a very good book by Christopher Hitchens called Mortality.

ELLE: Favourite dish?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Any type of pasta. I’m really boring when it comes to food. Maybe Spaghetti bolognese. More pasta than burgers.

ELLE: Ideal holidays?

ROBERT PATTINSON: An extreme or the other. Doing something with lots of activities, like climbing or going to the beach and do absolutely nothing, with no one around me.

[rinasthoughts]

Kdramas I’ve watched (part 1)

Hello! This is my first post ever! I wanted to create a list of kdramas that I’ve watched, and what I would rate them. I hope you enjoy this list and maybe find some shows to watch!

The Producers (2015)

13 episodes

Synopsis: “A tireless group of young TV producers and a pop star work around the clock in the entertainment department of a major network” (Wikipedia). The show revolves around Seung-Chan (Kim Soo Hyun), a young man who begins his career for the KBS televisions network. He struggles to get along with his boss, Joon-mo (cha Tae-Hyun), who also happens to be a long time friend of Seung-Chan’s work crush, the music program producer Ye-Jin (Kang Hyo-Jin). Cindy (IU) a k-pop idol who has become rude, selfish, and narcissistic to protect herself from her adoptive mother/CEO and the constant stream of hate she receives meets Seung-Chan during a music show and begins to fall for him. Will Seung-Chan end up with Ye-Jin or Cindy?

Rating: 7/10

This was the first Kdrama I watched, and it was only because of my love for IU. Watching the show for IU quickly turned into watching the show for the plot and character development in general, especially Cindy’s and Ye-Jin’s. This show had plenty of funny, badass, heartfelt, and frustrating moments that always kept me interested. I especially liked watching the interactions between Cindy and her manager! I wasn’t a huge fan of the sort of love triangle between the three producers, but it wasn’t over-the top or annoying.

Oh My Ghostess (2016)

16 episodes

Synopsis: “Timid Na Bong Sun gets possessed by the ghost of a confident young woman who seeks to solve her unfinished business by hooking up with Bong Sun's boss, famous chef Kang Sun Woo.” (Wikipedia)

Rating: 10/10

This is definitely a must see if you enjoy kdramas, especially ones that have lots of romance along with supernatural elements (and a bit of mystery)! I loved the character development of Bong Sun, going from an incredibly introverted girl who was terrified of the ghost she could see to being a talkative woman who refused to run away from her problems. The chemistry between the two leads was amazing, Kim Seulgi did a great job of playing a feisty and headstrong ghost, the chefs were hilarious to watch, and the plot of a murderer who had been possessed for years was interesting. I have zero bad things to say about this show, it’s too good.

You’re the Best! Lee Soon Shin (2013)

50 episodes

Synopsis: “Lee Soon Shin (IU) goes through hardships after the death of her father. Soon Shin and her mother struggle to find happiness. Her love story continues in the mist of ups and downs of her life. Lee Soon Shin is the youngest member of a successful family. Despite her family′s successes, however, she seems to have failed to inherit any talent, and is marked as an oddball though she remains a bright, lively and courageous girl. She then meets the head of an agency named Shin Joon Ho (Jo Jung-Suk), and he turns her life around. Shin Joon Ho is a confident, cold and competitive man who changes later after he begins to understand the real meaning of success through Lee Soon Shin” (my drama list).

Rating: 5/10

This is another show I watched because of IU. It was incredibly hard to pay attention to a show that had 50 1-hour long episodes, so honestly I skipped through most of the parts that didn’t involve Soon-Shin. Yoo In-na plays one of Soon-Shin’s sisters in the show, but I didn’t particularly like her role. This show revolves around Soon-Shin being conned right around the time her father dies, and then actually becoming an actress with the help of CEO Shin Joon-Ho. She gains attention and eventually discovers that she was adopted and that her real mother is a popular actress who works under the same company. This whole show is very dramatic but has good intentions. I’m not a fan of the length of the show and I wasn’t really interested in most of the characters, but there were lots of lighthearted moments and I really liked seeing the relationship develop between Soon-Shin and the CEO.

Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016-2017)

16 episodes

Synopsis: “In ancient times, Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) is an unbeatable general in wars, but the young King (Kim Min-Jae) is jealous of Kim Shin and kills him. Kim Shin becomes Dokkaebi (Goblin), possessing an immortal life. At first he thinks that he is blessed, but he realizes that he is cursed. Closer to the present day, Kim Shin has waited 900 years for a human bride to end his immortal life. One night, he saves a dying pregnant woman (Park Hee-Von) who is destined to die. Meanwhile, the Grim Reaper (Lee Dong-Wook) is unable to find the dead pregnant woman. The woman gives birth to a baby girl named Ji Eun-Tak (later played by Kim Go-Eun). In the present day, Eun-Tak is a high school student. She still sees ghosts and hears their whisper of “Dokkaebi’s bride.” On her birthday, Eun-Tak sits by the sea with a lighted birthday cake. At that time, Kim Shin suddenly appears in front of her. Kim Shin does not know why, but he can hear her voice and appears in front of her against his will. Coincidentally, Kim Shin lives with the Grim Reaper at the same house. Eun-Tak and Kim Shin slowly get to know each other, and Eun-Tak soon figures out that he is the Goblin and she is his bride”(Asianwiki).

Rating: 10/10

This is another show that you NEED to watch if you’re getting into Kdramas. The concept of the show was very unique, and the entire cast consists of talented actors who pulled off their characters incredibly well. The romance between the two leads is great, the romance between the second leads is great, literally everything about this show is wonderful- there’s even some straight up bromance between the Grim reaper and the Goblin. I loved how they tied everything back to past lives and the consequences of each person’s actions. The ending is incredibly sad and I most definitely cried several times throughout the show.

Abyss (2019)

16 episodes

“Go Se-yeon is a beautiful prosecution lawyer at the top of her game, and Cha Min is her friend, an unattractive but rich heir to a cosmetics empire. They are both revived into different bodies by supernatural beings using an "Abyss" after their deaths in separate incidents. The "Abyss" is a celestial object which has the power to revive anything that has died; the reincarnated bodies take on the appearance of that person's soul. Go Se-yeon takes on a plainer appearance, whilst Cha Min becomes very attractive and young; virtually the opposite of before. They start working together to find out the reason for their revival and who caused Go Se-yeon's death” (Wikipedia).

Rating: 6/10

This show took me a really long time to finish watching. Like several months long. The plot seemed to fast paced at times and too slow at others, and it was overall fairly predictable. The concept was great but the portrayal was meh. Both leads were wonderful and did a great job of playing their characters, but the show was lacking in characters development and the development of romance between them. Honestly I don’t even remember how the show ended. I also didn’t really like Cha Mum’s girlfriend that much, her story didn’t intrigue me and she never really seemed to have any development, but maybe that’s just me.

I hope you enjoyed this! I really love kdramas but I didn’t really have anyone to talk to about them, so this is the next best thing. Most of these shows are frequently recommended, but I thought I’d just put out my own thoughts for the world to see. Peace out homies!

[deutscheshausnyu]

Interview with Writer-in-Residence Ursula Fricker

Ursula Fricker was born in 1965 in the Swiss town of Schaffhausen. She trained as a social worker and taught theatre studies. Her first novel, Fliehende Wasser (Fleeing Water) was awarded the prize for single best work by the Swiss Schiller Foundation in 2014 as well as a year’s writer-residency by the City of Zürich. In 2009 she published Das letzte Bild (The last Image), and in 2012 Ausser sich (Frantic), which was nominated for the Swiss Book Prize. Lügen von gestern und heute (Past and Present Lies) was awarded the Brandenburgischen Kunstföderpreis in 2017.

Ursula Fricker will participate in the upcoming Festival Neue Literatur 2018 (March 23-25), a collaborative project of New York’s leading German-language cultural institutions. The 2018 festival invites authors from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the U.S.  to tackle questions of identity and belonging in a fracturing Europe and beyond, using race, religion, immigration, status, politics, and even soccer hooliganism as lenses to explore contemporary society and the recent past.

© Susanne Schleyer/autorenarchiv.de

When did you know you wanted to become an author?

This was more of a subtle process than a decision. I´ve always read a lot. I remember that once when I was about twelve or maybe thirteen, I asked myself how it would be to write a novel and thought that it must be incredibly difficult. My origin is a working-class family without much of an affinity to the idea of making a living out of art. Nevertheless, bit by bit, I made a living out of art. Writing became my place to be.

Can you tell us a bit about your creative writing process? What inspires you? Where and when are you most productive? Do you have a favorite place to write?

I need long term empty periods of time. Full schedules make me sick. I need a room for myself. It’s a bit sad to say and also a cliché, but my most productive inspiration seems to come out of a certain discontent, discomfort, and doubt about political or social development – an impulse of contradiction.

You were born in Switzerland, but you moved to Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Which of these two countries do you now consider home, and has this in any way shaped how you view the world (and render it in your novels)?

First, home is where I am. But of course, Brandenburg/Berlin, where I’ve lived for almost thirty years now, has become home. Home contains the Brandenburg landscape, which I admire a lot: mostly unspoiled, original plains and endless woods, wide and wild. In that sense, I am an old romantic, although I also love huge chaotic cities, majestic architecture, industrial sites, bridges, and human formed landscapes. In a way, of course, I am a migrant – of free will. While I’ve assimilated into Eastern Germany, I still feel a sense of belonging to Swiss society…not so much in national terms, but rather in terms of the mentality and way of thinking.

I can´t say whether the experience of migration has shaped my way of writing, because I just don´t know how it would have been otherwise. What my life and writing may shape is a certain urge and passion to start anew, which is a blessing and curse in one.

Your fourth novel, Past and Present Lies, is set against the background of the current refugee crisis and tackles contemporary subjects head on. What special powers does fiction have to help us understand and confront the world today, and what overarching message were you hoping to communicate with this book?

Well, the novel was actually written before the current, what we call, refugee crisis in Europe occurred. I started research in 2011/12 and finished writing in the summer of 2015. The setting tackles a very special issue we had in Berlin throughout this time: an activist/refugee camp in a small park in the city. And we had a local government who accepted the occupation as an expression of comprehensible protest. The narration is built around this situation. There are three characters: an activist, a migrant, and an interior senator (Innensenator). It was essential for me to draw three more or less understandable views on the same issue.

Since 2015, the debate has been heating up. My novel came out just at the peak of the so-called “welcoming culture” (Willkommenskultur) in Germany during the spring of 2016. Since not all characters in the novel empathize with the refugees, some blogs and newspapers (if they reviewed the book at all) accused it of being “politically dangerous”…whatever that means. When I wrote the novel, I had a quite naïve intention. I wanted to open the window and see what’s happening. Empathy, I think, is a very valuable thing, and should not be misused to comfortably confirm the side we sympathize with and deny or exclude all other perspectives. The result would be, I believe, a very restrictive and illiberal way of thinking.

For example, I´ve set the character of Interior Senator Otten not the way everybody would expect. In my novel, the “bad guy” is a decent human being. Readers find themselves, maybe against their will, understanding the thoughts and arguments of a conservative politician. Can you do that, everybody would ask. If literature has a power, what else could that be but to allow us to slip into the mind of somebody else, someone who may even be the opposite of us. This, of course, is also quite delicate and raises the question of who is worth being understood. Is there a red line? These are interesting questions that are important to discuss.

You will be presenting Past and Present Lies at the annual Festival Neue Literatur in New York, where the theme this year is INSIDER | OUTSIDER.  Could you reflect on this theme in regards to your novel, and your novel’s main characters Beba, Isa, and Otten?

It’s all about insider/outsider in the novel, it is actually one of the main subjects! The leftist group around Isa, the activist, is loudly claiming for inclusion. But in real life, they are drawing a sharp line between insiders and outsiders. Interior Senator Otten dealt with the same issue in his youth. This has marked him for life and shapes his action today. Beba as a migrant and prostitute is a clear outsider, but feels like an insider. Some wished that she would have been more vulnerable, but she is an unconventional, willful character, not a victim. And sometimes, outsiders become insiders very quietly and draw new lines of segregation.

Is this your first time visiting New York? If you have been here before, how are things different now from the last time you were here?

I´ve visited New York several times before. The first time was in 1987, when I stayed in Queens in a kind of commune, together with a bunch of Irish expats for almost four months. Fun times!

Everything is quite different now. Safer. Cleaner. Less crazy. But New York is still overwhelming in so many ways.

How do you plan to spend your residency in New York? Will you take advantage of the cultural scene or do you plan to mainly focus on your writing and research for future projects?

I have to focus quite strictly on the current project, my next novel, which is just about to be finished. But since I mainly work in the very early mornings, I allow myself to stroll around in the afternoons. I love observing the street life, discovering outlying parts of the city, and marveling at the architecture. I also go to museums, exhibitions, and concerts now and then.

[vileart]

Dramaturgy Abort: Therese Ramstedt @ Edfringe 2017

MISSION ABORT

By Therese Ramstedt

directed by Claire Stone

AS PART OF THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE 2017

Venue:    Gilded Balloon –

Rose Theatre Studio (Venue 76)

Dates:    2nd to 28th August 2017 (not 14th)

Time:     5.45pm (6.45pm)

Box office:  0131 622 6552

Internet:   http://ift.tt/Ox1xIU

PAIN, SHAME, CONFUSION!

OR

EMPOWERING FREEDOM AND A MASSIVE RELIEF?

Therese Ramstedt is proud to make her debut at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe with the world premiere of her latest play Mission Abort – a humorous, honest and heartbreakingly human monologue about a woman’s experience of having an abortion.

Strong opinions on the legislative side of women’s reproductive rights are voiced on a daily basis, yet rarely do we hear the perspective from the women who have had to terminate unwanted pregnancies. Mission Abort confronts our taboos by telling the story of one woman’s journey – from discovering she’s pregnant, to making the decision, following it through and getting on with life afterwards. This explosive tragicomedy brings its audience on a laugh-cry rollercoaster featuring questionable life-modelling skills, the looming voice of Donald Trump and leg-dancing to Kate Bush.

What was the inspiration for this performance?

As with many creative ventures, this play started in personal experiences. Before I myself had an abortion, I had absolutely no clue what the implications would be on me and the impact it would have on me physically and emotionally, or the effect it would have on my relationship (both with my partner at the time and with friends). I came to realise women's (and men's) personal experiences of terminating pregnancies is a part of the discussion on female reproductive rights that is missing. We talk a lot about the legislation side of things, but hardly ever about the human beings behind this decision. And when abortion as a topic is addressed in arts and the media (which is rarely!) it is still very marginal, and often portrayed as something fairly shameful that women either regret or simply - in superhuman fashion - forget about.

So I wanted to create a piece that in an upfront, honest and accessible (which for me often means humorous!) way talked about this experience that one in three women in the UK have gone through at some point in their lives. And a piece where the woman who chooses to terminate a pregnancy is neither a victim nor a robot - but a strong person who makes the right decision for herself, but still allows herself to feel and to take this big decision seriously.

For a woman, the life-changing moment comes when there are two purple lines on a pregnancy test - and contrary to what Hollywood rom-coms would have us believe, there are alternative choices that we have a right to make. And with this work, I wanted to be completely free of judgement either way but just shed some light on a relatively unheard perspective. Because I believe human beings empathise with and find understanding for other humans - so if we don't humanise the choice to have an abortion, and actually talk about the experiences, how can we expect other people to understand that choice? 

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas? 

I really would like to think so! I think one thing that performance does (or can do) which is unique to other forms of communication is to create an immersive narrative where the audience really can have the opportunity to put themselves in the character's shoes and perhaps understand their path and motivations. This, at least for me, I don't think happens to the same extent in lectures or talks - we might get to understand someone intellectually, but perhaps not laugh and cry with them in the same manner. What I really appreciate about live performance in particular is that there is no escape (cruel, I know!) - once the audience is in the space with you, they can't just hit the pause button if they feel too challenged. Of course, there is always the option to walk out but that is often much more of a statement than people are willing to make...  

How did you become interested in making performance?

I actually can't even remember a time when I haven't been making up stories for performance. It was always something that I knew I wanted to do, but I suppose if we are going way way back (as in, to nursery school!) it was often a way for me to create small worlds that were closer to the kind I wanted to live in. One where little girls could wear pretty dresses AND fight with swords saving villages from evil dragons (I didn't know it at the time, but I basically just wanted to be Daenerys Targaryen). And performance-making for me since has just become a way for me to say my piece, but without lecturing or in any way judging other people - I am generally much more interested in raising questions than I am in providing answers (even if I do take a great deal of pleasure in being right when it comes to quizzes and anything grammatical...)

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

A really important thing for me was to incorporate a lot of humour, as I think it is our responsibility when creating work on a "serious" or "difficult" topic to make it as accessible and enjoyable for an audience as possible - to make it a conversation people want to have basically! Also, without laughter there can be no tears and I find it very difficult to connect with any work that doesn't have both sides of the comedy/tragedy coin.

Another thing was to not shy away from my own personal experience, and exploring parts of myself that were at times quite difficult. While the play did very quickly become a separate entity to me and my story, even if the events have ended up being nearly exactly what went on in my own life, having my personal experience behind me made me perhaps more daring in how far I could take it and how much I could address in the piece.

And this, I think, is what has turned into what I now hope is a very overall "human" piece - the woman in the play is me, but she could really have been any woman who'd found herself in the same situation.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

Exploring big human topics through humour and music is what I did with my Swedish theatre company, Annan Teater, so I think it does follow on quite naturally! Previous work I have made have dealt with topics like depression, suicide and sexism in the workplace - so it's probably in there. However, this is the most personal work I have made, and definitely the work that digs the deepest into one individual human's experience - it is also the first full-length work I am producing and performing in English.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

I hope that they will perhaps understand a little bit more about something they may not have thought of before, and to feel encouraged to openly talk about the experience of terminating a pregnancy. Or at the very least, maybe empathise with and understand the woman who wants to make this choice for herself.

(Of course, I would love for audiences to also experience a connection with the piece, to laugh and be moved - so far people are responding beautifully to it and hopefully there will be more of the same!) 

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience? I did debate a bit back and forth about how to best get the audience on the character's side, and one important aspect of this is the audience interaction I have in the piece - throughout it, I (try to) give them the opportunity to support the character and be directly involved in her choices and experiences (cheering for her when she finds out she is pregnant, hold her hand through the procedure etc) But another important element was to not be too "in-yer-face" and to let the audience make up their own mind - this piece doesn't preach or judge, it is simply showing a woman at her most vulnerable but also at her strongest and most empowered. I also want the audience to come out of the show with a positive, empowered feeling in them - so choosing to also share the positive elements of both pregnancy and being able to make the choice to terminate was always really important for me. 

HOW CAN A CHOICE THAT IS SO RIGHT BE SO HARD?

Having previously touched upon the subject of abortion in one of her earliest plays with Swedish theatre company Annan Teater (which she co-founded and ran between 2012-2015), when Therese had to make the decision herself, she discovered that there is a side of the story that nearly always seems to be missing. What is having an abortion actually like for the woman who goes through one? Obviously deeply personal experience that is individual to all women, but with one common factor: not something that we talk about.

Mission Abort crushes the taboo around abortion and explores the ups as well as the downs, offering a truthful and direct account of a topic that is acutely current – and what better year to do it than the 50th anniversary of the UK’s legalisation of abortion?

IF WE CANNOT TALK FREELY ABOUT IT, WHAT DOES “FREE ABORTION” REALLY MEAN?

Therese is a versatile writer, singer and performer who has worked across a myriad of art forms including film, theatre and music - as a performer, producer and PR - with venues including Barbican Centre, Royal Albert Hall and also at the Edinburgh Fringe and in her native Sweden. Humour and song are at the heart of her performance-making, and alongside her own creative work Therese performs extensively as a singer with ensemble London Contemporary Voices. With LCV, Therese has collaborated with artists including Laura Mvula, Nitin Sawhney and Imogen Heap, and features on the soundtrack to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Mission Abort is developed with the support of Soho Theatre, where Therese has been a Young Artist on the Comedy- and Writers’ Lab schemes since 2015, and is directed by Claire Stone from feminist duo Feral Foxy Ladies (I Got Dressed in Front of my Nephew Today and Balancing Acts). 

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