REBELS ASK TOO MANY QUESTIONS -General Anzeiger Bonn Guest performance British Theatergroup FAHRENHEIT 451-Kammerspiel Bonn February 26, 2007 11.00 and 20.00: Darkness pierced by sirens from the Fire Department-Then all the books go up in smoke. On stage four British actors with heavy American accents give life to Ray Bradbury´s dark visions of a completely controlled political environment: Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which paper begins to burn and at the same time the titel of Bradbury´s Science-Fiction Novel about the manipulation of reality through the media and the state. The play was performed in the Kammerspiele by the British group TNT under the direction of Paul Stebbings: America appears as a very highly technological state in which the fire department doesn´t put out fires but starts them: Because the regime is very aware that knowledge is dangerous, they have abolished the study of humanities and destroyed all books. But suddenly Fireman Guy Montag (Glynn Connop) begins to doubt the system after coming in contact with the eccentric Clarisse (Gehane Strehler). The young Rebel dressed in green the colour of hope loves nature and asks too many questions. The evening is as exciting as a Detective Story and brought to life by a spectacular musical sound track: Sirens pierce the air, followed by sounds of nature and a live vacuum cleaner performance which is heartily applauded: The performance is both classic in nature but at the same time very up-to-date.

HUMAN BEINGS BECOME BOOKS -FAHRENHEIT 451 on Schweinfurt´s Theatre Main Post Schweinfurter Volkszeitung February 9, 2006 Meaningless, superficial entertainment; obnoxious advertising; human beings whose brains have been sanded down to thoughtlessness; people who have been cabled from head to toe-have not a lot of the elements of Ray Bradbury´s novel of negative utopia written in the early fifties come true? Paul Stebbings director of this play originally written as a novel, answers the question with a resounding yes! For Stebbings; good science fiction does not concern itself with the future but with the present. An anonymous omnipresent systen-similar to the one described by Kafka- does not tolerate non conformism: For this reason hunch backed people staring blankly into space schuffle around the stage preparing the audience for the appearance of Fireman Guy Montag (Glynn Connop) and his systematically organised book-burning machine: Connop skillfully portrays the metamorphic changes in character from a thoughtless obedient party member to an angry rebel. Together with the young girl Clarisse (Geháne Strehler) he is the lone ray of hope in this otherwise very black and negative performance in which many scenes take place in full darkness: Stebbings´drastically opposite portrayals of the two women Mildred-Montag´s wife ( Deborah Leigh-Simmons) and Clarisse is stunningly brilliant: I´m ancient says Clarisse as she at the same time surrounds herself with attributes of nature: grass

and the sounds of chirping birds-whereas Mildred allows herself to be enslaved by thoughtless technology: One of her favourite expressions is superficial fun which drowns out all fragments of inspired thinking: Mildred must first free herself from the effects of the last party-both physical and mental-before she is able to speak a word: She cleans herself with diluted water at the same time spraying the audience...slapstick is important after all these depressing scenes: The central points of FAHRENHEIT 451 cause goose pimples in their heart wrenching presentation: The suicide of the old lady whose books have been burned by the fire department (The title FAHRENHEIT 451 stands for the temperature at which paper begins to burn) and the contrasting scene as human beings become books: The four actors are very easy to understand speaking a text which is in the main free from American slang: A long applause from this young, very concentrated audience: