More Evita; Kierkegaard and Me

Report by Constantin Constantius

Fear and Trembling and Repetition
Kierkegaard's Writings, VI
Princeton University Press p. 154


Berlin has three theaters.  The opera and ballet performances in the opera house are supposed to be groszartig [magnificent]; performances in the theater are supposed to be instructive and refining, not only for entertainment.  I do not know.  But I do know that Berlin has a theater called the Konigstadner Theater.  Professional travelers visit this theater seldom, though more frequently- which also has its own significance- than they visit the congenial, more out-of-the-way places of entertainment, where a Dane has the opportunity to refresh his memory of Lars Mathiesen and Kehlet.  When I came to Stralsund and read in the newspaper that Der Talisman would be performed at that theater, I was in a good mood at once.  The recollection of it awakened in my soul; the first time I was there, it seemed as if the first impression evoked in my soul only a recollection that pointed far back in time.

There is probably no young person with any imagination who has not at some time been enthralled by the magic of the theater and wished to be swept along into that artificial actuality in order like a double to see and hear himself and to split himself up into every possible variation of himself, and nevertheless in such a way that every variation is still himself.  Such a wish, of course, expresses itself only at a very early age.


Lake Worth has some theaters.  They show movies for mass audiences and plays for the players and their downtown cronies.  I do not know.  But I do know that the Lake Worth Playhouse has facilitated an awakening for me.  A Lancer has the opportunity to refresh his spirit.  When I came here and read on the website that auditions for Evita were taking place, I was in a good mood at once.  The recollection of it awakened in my soul a time when I was ten and acting meant something more to me.