Explaining Les Mis to my Flatmate's German-Speaking Mother
using Stuffed Animals, Ketchup and a German-English Dictionary

a performance created for one
by Brian Lobel on April 5, 2008 at 10am
documented by Christa Holka

a sample of photographs

At the End of the Day				On My Own
I Dreamed a Dream				Drink With Me
Who am I?				Bring Him Home
	Master of the House		Javert's Suicide
Stars				Empty Chairs at Empty Tables
Do You Hear the People Sing?				Finale

on the day my flatmate and her mother went to see Les Mis in the West End, it was decided that without English, not everything from Les Mis would be understood. thankfully, Brian knows everything about Les Mis and the French Revolution - well, maybe just Les Miserables. in 20 minutes, Brian performed a condensed adaptation of the 3 hour music extravaganza with 8 stuffed animals (for each of the central characters), a bottle of heinz ketchup (for blood), a pile of musicals on video (for set pieces) and babelfish.com's simultaneous English- German translation. above is just a sampling of the project: more photos and artifacts from the event (ticket stubs, homemade reviews in German and English) are to come. the focus of the project is on the celebration of small events, language, translation, age, cultural connection, Hackney, Germans and Americans, Jews and Germans, queers and straights, parents and children, mothers and daughters' ridiculous artist friends.

return to BrianLobel.com

see more photographs by ChristaHolka