A Night at the Theater

On Friday Joseph and I went to see Prophecy of a Nameless Eskimo at the English Theater Berlin, previously known as Friends of the Italian Opera. The venue is what its name says, a theater dedicated to theater productions in the English language in Berlin. It shares an address with Theater Thikwa, and the entire complex, due to its address being Fidicinstrasse 40, is known as F40.

If you want to do a dinner-and-theater evening but do not want to splurge much more than you have to and/or are short on time, then I would recommend ordering some lasagna from the neighboring Imbiss Wasserturm, a hole-in-the-wall-esque cheap-eat stop located at Fidicinstrasse 43. There's another restaurant if you're approaching from the direction of the U6 subway line, and probably some others earlier on, but there isn't a huge abundance near the theater, and quite honestly I was very happy with my veggie lasagna from the Imbiss. Joseph ordered the one with meat, and it was quite yummy, too, and the whole thing only costed, what, €7,00 or €7,50.

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Prophecy of a Nameless Eskimo is set in the future when the earth becomes overpopulated, and supposedly in order to make sure the natural resources are not rapidly drained and allow for posterity to thrive, one must submit to death duty. Each month the social security numbers of thousands of people are announced, and they are given a three day span to either kill themselves or find someone else to mercy kill with a good reason as to why. The protagonist, Norah Proud, has her number called and utterly refuses to mercy kill another, which utterly frustrates Grace, her lover. At the same time, she knows she must live according to the visions she has, where a nameless Eskimo is her sole companion, and tells her that she is the one to find the truth behind this sinister scheme.

While I was not exactly satisfied with the ending, I would still recommend it for the drama that leads up to it, as well as the humorous display of weapons available to the public for a humane death, whether it be one's own or someone else's. The story also manages to draw in the relationships that Norah and Grace have with their respective families, which not only deepens each character but also brings up questions about love and loyalty in the most dire of situations. It probably will bring some unpleasant thoughts to mind, such as one's own willingness for self-sacrifice for complete strangers and if one would actually mercy kill because of a grudge, but pondering upon such tough questions can be a good thing at times. And it's not as if this fictional scenario would actually come into being (right?).