My First Time

Written by Ken Davenport
and people just like you

APRIL 2014
23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 29 / 30

Romanischer Keller
Heidelberg

THE PLAY

About the play

Our biology makes us all equal. That’s why it’s very likely that at some point in our lives all of us are going to have sex for the first time. How is it that we live in a highly sexualized media environment but hardly ever mention that First Time experience? In 2007, Ken Davenport decided to break the silence by crafting real First Time stories by real people (mostly Americans) into a delightful play for four actors. What’s best, audience members get to air their First Time stories, too! Though only by filling out a short survey during the preshow. But the statistics are tabulated on site, and some of the juicier details may end up in the play. Full anonymity guaranteed. If you enjoy laughing about the struggles of starting out in human procreation, brace yourself for a refreshingly honest, tongue-in-cheek look at “this ultimate rite of passage that so many of us expect to be perfect, but most likely was anything but.” If you are allergic to slide shows, don’t bother.


THE TEAM

TEAM

Nicola Schomburg - Woman #1

Nicola is studying English and Art History at the University of Heidelberg. Thanks to her incredible sense of direction, she does not only get lost in her love for literary works, in the underwater world while scuba diving or on her trips all over the world. You might also need to lend her a hand on the way from the restroom back to the rehearsal room.
Being a big fan of all things literature, Nicola was very curious to see what the actual realization of a literary piece would be like. The drama group casting at the English Department sounded like great fun - but she never would have dreamed of actually finding herself on stage.
Oh well, there has to be a "First Time" for everything, right?



Vanessa Bomert - Woman #2

Vanessa discovered her passion for theatre and acting during her time as a student in Germersheim when she joined the Germersheim Theatre Company for about 3 years (her “First Time” was the part of Melissa in A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters). Since 2011 she is a more or less steady member of the Schauspielgruppe. Previous productions with the Schauspielgruppe include Closer, Love Bites, Rabbit Hole, Furies and most recently the guest performance of Home.





Luis Friedrich - Man #1

After auditioning for an acting school, Luis "settled for second best" and is now studying English and History at the University of Heidelberg. Already having made his first stage experiences as a lead singer, he now takes the line "Never change your passion for glory" as a life motto and is pursuing acting with the drama group of the English Department. For Luis, the play should have been adapted as a musical - but it didn't. So that's that. Anyway, it's his First Time...




Mo Armin - Man #2

Mo is fluent in German, English and Persian but for him it is the language of theatre "in which I can freely express myself."
An English and Religious Studies student in Heidelberg, he has had a long-term love for the beautiful art of theatre. Having starred in and co-written various plays such as The Shrink, Polar Bears and The Mousetrap at his high school in Bad Kreuznach, Mo decided to pursue his passion at the Drama Group of the English Department.
Little did he know that you actually have to go through a casting procedure in order to be part of such a production. It would be his "First Time"... But apparently he did okay.



Matthias Haldimann - Director

In his day job as freelance English conference interpreter and Japanese translator Matthias sits at his desk in his home office a lot. So he needs theatre, acting and now – for the First Time – directing in order not to become completely one with his computer screen. He has been coaching an open improv theatre group at the School of Translation and Interpreting in Heidelberg for three years, and was last seen on stage as an actor in A Good Death by Wannie de Wijn and Closer by Patrick Marber both with the Theatergruppe des Anglistischen Seminars.
Matthias found stepping in as an assistant director for a couple of scenes in A Good Death so much fun that he decided to have a go at directing a whole play. His only condition: He wanted Dmitrij to be his producer. So far, this First Time directing experience has come very close to another First Time (at 21 in a remote stone cottage in the Swiss Alps without electricity – absolutely worth waiting for).



Dmitrij Laaber - Producer

Dmitrij is the only one who is not attached to the English language neither by his education nor by his job. He is working on his Ph.D. at the university of Kaiserslautern. And though he sometimes argues about non-technicians using the equipment in the venue, he actually feels much more comfortable surrounded by people who are not technicians.
After two projects at the Anglisitsches Seminar ("Closer" and "A Good Death") for the First Time he trusts somebody else to do the directing. And though by doing so he doesn't escape the horrible city of Kaiserslautern as often as in the earlier days, he still gets a great opportunity to prove that engineers also do know something about culture. Though his technical skills are very advantageous for the production.



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There are no more performances of My First Time planned.