Synopsis
Lontano – is an appreciation of the multifaceted artistic work of West Germany's first autonomous theatre group which, between 1970 and 1985, under the direction of Peter Stein, made theatre history. The film traces the formation of the Schaubühne as a theatre experiment in the spirit of '68, describes how grassroots democracy was practised within the group and addresses the premises, the errors and the mentality which swiftly elevated the Schaubühne to the position of the most important German theatre in the second half of the 20th Century. What mad self-governed theatre work possible? Historic venues are revisited in the company of former ensemble members, reconstructing aspects of the theatre work of the time. Lontano provides a fragmentary, almost archaeological approximation of performance moments, spaces, costumes, designs, texts, plays, bodies. Which are the memories that remain? What is lost? An intense retrospective view – 'A reflective film' (Peter Stein).
