A play about three youth and their fierce ambitions

YOUTH, THE THEME From "Creeps"

"Creeps", written by Lutz Hubner, is a play about the youth, written for the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. It was first performed by the Company Theatre in Mumbai in January, 2004, at the Max Mueller Bhavan.

"Creeps" is the name of a new television show for which a music channel is looking for a young moderator. Petra, Marion and Lily are the three finalists aspiring to be the presenter and are confident of getting the job. They are called for a final test to showcase their talent.

Political overtones

The rivals or the supposed finalists come from different social backgrounds. The characters are fiercely competitive and prepared to go any length.

The play also brings out the communal tensions that were subtle but still very much present after East and West Germanys were united in 1989.

Lily comes from West Germany, considered to be more `hep and happening.' Marion and Petra are from the East, each with her own ambitions and means to fulfil it.

They start by being formal with one another but gradually an impoliteness creeps in. As Arno, a voice of a researcher-cum-producer, continues to ask questions and give directions, the hostility among the teenagers becomes more pronounced. They start abusing one another and their animosity reaches new heights when they turn violent.

However, the play comes a full circle when the youngsters realise they are merely being used for a promo of a show by a woman called Kathleen. The hopelessness and futility of their ambitions is brought about using powerful German-English expressions and several tragic comic moments.

After realising they have only been used and taken for a ride, the three teenagers decide to put the trauma behind them and become friends. Despite that, after a meek protest, they give up before the unseen producer and accept a small fee that is offered.

As the group says, "We are overcome by the unwelcome suspicion that the real impotence is actually much worse than that, which has been experienced in this fictional reality."

The play strikes a fine balance between bitter competition, false ambitions, power struggles, manipulations and the ultimate pointlessness of their efforts, without becoming too dark or violent.

PRACHI PINGLAY