Club Gewalt shows depth but not feeling in 'Anthropocene the musical'

Sometimes I dream of a subsidy system where artists can actually carry out their wild plans all the way, to the extreme. Or, indeed, are obliged to do so. That, for instance, if you make a musical, you actually have to put a live band on stage, and are not allowed to use a studio recording. And that you then apply for money for that and get it. Just because, as a rock band, you also don't leave the singers at home and sing along on film. Oh, wait. Abba.

But apart from that, I would hugely wish Club Gewalt to simply perform their absolutely finely put-together music to 'Anthropocene, the musical' in its entirety live, and not limit it to the drum kit that stands unused for three-quarters of the performance promisingly. Now the music just sounded like someone had tucked an eighties boombox under a duvet, and that was just a shame. In a theatre, I want everything, as much as possible, live.

Trapped animals

Because how nice it was to be in a venue again. I saw Anthropocene, the musical in Utrecht's Theatre Kikker and it felt good to see people again, different from the doggy round in the park. That there might be some faults with the performance is actually not a bad thing at all. Even these stage beasts have been locked up for too long to go all the way already.

In any case, let me say that ambition cannot be denied the young creators of Club Gewalt. A musical about the climate crisis could already be called a bit high-minded, that you also want to make some art content statements about the musical tradition in the process is brave. Consequently, none of this is entirely successful. It also contains a lot of abstract texts and big words, which does not really help the perception of an audience that is somewhat less educated than yours truly.

Deep emotions

I found earlier that Club Gewalt has made it a trademark to avoid overly deep emotions. There we also have a fun podcast made about it. Gewalt's acting singers can sing great and its composing members can compose fascinatingly, but they apparently have no desire to make something that evokes anything like deep emotion or real haunting. They can do it, because they often come close to it, but they then immediately turn it into something droll. That's frustrating, at least, for me as a viewer.

I would love it if, in order to put down a commentary on the emotive cannons of the American musical, they made me feel for myself how well that can work. Show me every corner of the room in a perfect Disney pastiche, then set the record straight with an intellectual leftist direct. It may be a hobbyhorse of mine, but I don't like theatre that only shows possible depths, but not feels.

Enfin. A lot of mixed feelings again, but that should not spoil the fun of the theatre. So in the future, better&bolder. And with live music. Demand it! No half-measures or sketches, but everything. That's what subsidy was once invented for.

Good to know

Anthropocene, the musical is on tour. Information