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26 Mar - 2 Apr 2008, Fritsch Fest, Nibelheim, The Arts Centre, Christchurch
1-2 July 2008, ADSA Conference, Allen Hall, Dunedin 21 Nov 2008, Media Club, 191 Armagh St, Christchurch (Nico Sphinx of Ice only) Enigma Emmy Göring and Nico Sphinx of Ice are two monologues by Werner Fritsch about two very different German blondes who, nevertheless, have something in common: they have both been traumatised by the recent German fascist past. Emmy Göring was the wife of Hitler's designated successor, Hermann Göring. Nico, a former model, became famous when Andy Warhol made her a singer for Velvet Underground.
Emmy is an enigma as, in the 1970s, she reveals her continued loyalty to the fascist cause when reflecting back on her life while under anaesthesia in a dentist's chair. She regards herself as the good, sweet girl her parents brought up. Nico, by contrast, is bitter and cold. Also full of drugs, she remembers her childhood under fascism but especially her lovers and collaborators - Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, Lou Reed, and above all Jim Morrison, whose music features throughout. Nico was every man's fantasy, famous for singing her lovers' songs. Then she decided to sing her own. 
Reviews and ArticlesFor students of contemporary theatre and indeed anyone seriously prepared to step aside from conventional performance work, these pieces are an interesting prospect. They are not for everyone but neither do they give off the whiff of indulgence sometimes associated with non-commercial productions. You could almost have been in druidic ritual, witnessing rather than just watching the events that unfold. For those who have only ever been in traditional theatre, it is a very different feeling, more intimate, and more real. ResearchMarian McCurdy used Enigma Emmy Goering and Nico Sphinx of Ice as material for her PhD research Acting and it's Refusal in Theatre and Film Canterbury University, 2014 later published by Intellect Books as Acting and it's Refusal: The Devil Makes Believe.
Media Club PerformanceFree Theatre presented an evening of stories, songs, and poetry alongside the Nico monologue. Ian Loughran, a former Nico roadie and poet and musician in his own right, who was a 17 year old in Manchester when he befriended Nico in the early '80s. Ian performed poems he wrote as a "star-struck teenager" along with some of his recent work and stories of their time together, which revealed the ongoing impact Nico had on his life.
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She started at some point, um, having a real resentment over her good looks. She hated the fact that people thought she was beautiful. She thought this was some sort of disgrace to be beautiful... But in those days modelling was not artistic... you know, artistic was to be like Janis Joplin screaming your lungs out before you die of drug addiction... She was so happy to be called ugly... |
