Jürgen Holtz: Self-Portrait of an East German Actor

JURGEN HOLTZ Self-Portrait of an East German Actor Sue-Ellen Case and Helen Fehervary We first saw JUrgen Holtz at the VolksbOhne in East Berlin during rehearsals of Heiner Muller's Der Bau (The Construction) and in a production of Die Bauern (The Peasants) by the same author. Both were large-cast productions of East German history plays. Though Jorgen Holtz played relatively minor roles in both productions, our interest focused on him. We were startled by his comic characterization and clowning in such seemingly serious plays. He seemed to break the acting style of epic theatre represented by such actors in the Brechtian tradition as Ernst Busch, Helene Weigel, and Ekkehard Schall. Yet it was precisely his clowning which gave concrete theatrical form to the texts and the theories of epic theatre. JOrgen Holtz is one of the most prominent actors in East Germany. Critics agree that Ekkehard Schall of the Berliner Ensemble Is the only actor comparable in stature to Holtz. JOrgen Holtz has also acted outside East Germany and has been invited to join West German companies. Unlike most of his colleagues who have received such offe'Is, he has chosen to remain in the East. 25 The text of our interview is based on tapes, notes, and our recollection of conversations with JOrgen Holtz, which took place in various locations in the East from December 1979 to February 1980. Since JOrgen Holtz bases his acting style on the physicalization of concepts which are rooted in his social history, we decided to situate our text-within a description of its cultural environment. However, we have chosen primarily images of mainstream culture in the German Democratic Republic in order to demonstrate the alternative character of Jirgen Holtz's art. JOrgen Holtz lives in an old apartment building near the Wall, a few blocks from Checkpoint Charlie. Armed soldiers stand across the street guarding the Ministry of Interior.A few blocks beyond is the new apartment and shopping complex, which is the showcase for East Berlin's recent prosperity. I was born in Berlin in 1932. One year later Hitler came to power. My entire childhood was determined by the rise of fascism. I was seven years old when Germany went to war with Poland. I played war a lot and died a hero's death ten times a day. I was an only child. My parents didn't want any more children after the war began. My mother always thought I would be an actor, and she encouraged me to play with puppets and to improvise scenes. When I was eleven Goebbels declared his "total war." Children were evacuated from Berlin, so my mother took me to Bavaria and left me with foster parents. I learned to beg on the streets and I hustled food from American soldiers. I became a hood. In 1945 I started wandering the roads filled with soldiers and prisioners from concentration camps-we were all going home. On the way I swam across the Mulde River-the Americans were on one side and the Russians on the other. The river was full of corpses. In Berlin , my father had joined the Communist Party and was working for the city. I lived with my parents for awhile but they couldn't control me, so they sent me to a state school in the French sector. I started acting in communist theatre groups for children. At this time in the West, the communists were already being pushed out. They were the losers. The good guys were the ones going to church to get the Care packages. This was the first t;me that communism and the theatre were connected in my life. When I was sixteen Berlin was divided, and the West Berliners fired the head of my school for being an anti-fascist. We went on strike. The police intervened. That was when I decided to go to the East. My parents remained in the West. And that is how the division of Berlin cut right through the middle of my family. By the time I finished high school I had an incredible fear of entering the adult world. So I decided to...