Painting is closest to my not-thinking. Writing is closest to my thinking. Filming is closest to my writing. Living is closest to my filming. Or the other way around.
- Herbert Achternbusch
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26 March - 3 April 2004, Old Queen's Theatre, 120 Hereford St
1 July 2004, Studio 77 / Victoria University, Wellington (Ella and Susn only) 2-3 July 2004, Wellington Artists Charitable Trust (WACT), 44 Cable St (Ella and Susn only) Despite being one of the most prolific artists of the past 40 years, Bavarian novelist, playwright, filmmaker, actor and painter Herbert Achternbusch remains largely unknown. His obscurity is primarily due to his refusal to join any organised group; his art can be seen as a radical attempt to fight, with aesthetic means, against any influence from the outside. Thus, his work is often challenging to audiences as it is unlike anything they have experienced before.
Ella, Susn & My Epitaph
Surrounded by chickens, a man makes coffee in a chicken coop dressed in a feather wig and apron. How did he come to be here, and who is the mysterious woman watching television? Later, a young woman passes through a haze of burning incense to enter a confessional booth where a Priest listens to her secrets. What could make her want to leave the church? Next, an old Egyptian scribe and magician languishes beside the Nile. Will he have enough time to explain the meaning of life to his pupil, and what exactly will be the nature of the Master's Epitaph? The Free Theatre presents its provocative experimental production of Ella, Susn and My Epitaph, three plays by radical German playwright Hertbert Achternbusch, directed by Peter Falkenberg. In these "duologues", Achternbusch gives voice to society's untouchables. In Ella a man, dressed in his mother's clothes (a la Hitchcock's Psycho), tells the story of his other , beaten by her father until she goes crazy. In Susn a young woman confesses to a priest how her first sexual experiences have caused her to want to leave the church. And in My Epitaph, an old Egyptian scribe and magician, Amenhotep, dictates the story of his life to Seth, his pupil. Sequences from two films by Werner Herzog, who was an Achternbusch collaborator, are used in Ella. In Susn and My Epitaph, images of Achternbusch's paintings provide he backdrop. Ella and Susn were revived 5 years later for touring in 2009: ELLA AND SUSN 
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They will not count me amongst the great German minds, but will also not count me amongst the Bavarian assholes 
Reviews...it showed us the depth of intelligence and creativity that so often distinguishes the work of director Peter Falkenberg.... This sort of theatre is difficult for an audience which has been trained to expect storyline and resolution and you find yourself asking: so what? Yes what we really had were theatrical paintings, three dimensional and verbal, with each in its own gallery. It was theatre that requires effort not dumb acquiescence. 
...the kind of theatre that keeps you thinking and wanting to talk about it - gritty, provocative and stylish. 
The first piece, Ella, was by far my favourite and perhaps the most accessible to the audience, despite its disturbing nature. Audience ResponseExperiments and Challenges: The Free Theatre
Article by Andrei Baltakmens, 25 May 2004 ResearchGeorge Parker used Ella as part of his research for his PhD Actor Alone: Solo Performance in New Zealand, University of Canterbury, 2007.
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