Source: The Arts Magazine, Singapore, June 2001

Theatre. THE REAL FORENSIC. Post Theater, 27-28 Jan. 2001, The Substation Guinness Theatre

By Otto Fong

Dr Mark Benecke is one of Germany's leading forensic biologists and a celebrated public speaker. His works, including many books and journals, can be found in libraries, bookstores and on his web site.

The good doctor is real. Murat Belcant, the actor playing Benecke in The Real Forensic, was fictional. Belcant's unlikely credits included major Hollywood productions - such as Eyes Wide Shut and Die Hard II.

A spartan set included a table, a notebook computer, and a 'corpse' wrapped in white cloth. 26 shoebox-sized containers lined up in sequence. A screen behind alternated between video clips, dance music stored in the notebook, and projections of the contents of the containers. The opening of each box by Belcant/Benecke signaled the beginning of each of the 26 segments in the script by Klaus Fehling.

Belcant/Benecke introduced himself before launching into a speech on the complexities of life. Even as the Corpse, played by Deng Fuquan, began exploring everything around it, Benecke continued speaking and opening box after box. One contained a video-taped sequence on cell division, another, mushrooms. There were even worms which resembled maggots. The topic shhted to using the insects preying on decomposing corpse to aid criminal investigation, and gradually one realised the structure of a 'lecture' would be the story.

What was enjoyable about The Real Forensic was the blurring of line between theatre and life. Was Forensic a dramatised lecture, or theatre in the deceptive form of a lecture?

Director, Max Schumacher, also blurred the line between the researched and the researcher. While the coverage of Benecke's work was insightful, segments documenting his professional life as a media celebrity were limited to newspaper clippings and video footages of his daily cycle to his office. But what made him choose this field7 How does he stomach his dinner after a day in the office7 Attempts to put the researcher under any kind of meaningful scrutiny were less successful.

Deng's Corpse was an apt addition to the local presentation of the play as it implicated the audience. While Benecke was able to draw scientific data and philosophies from corpses, this silent Corpse was unable to reciprocate. Benecke resisted examination as much as he politely rejected the Corpse's display of physical closeness. Hence, Deng's portrayal was limited to futile gestures of affection such as sucking the fingers of Benecke.

During the post-performance dialogue session, it was revealed that the real Dr Benecke had been onstage, explaining the overwhelming realism. But it also served as a reminder that the creators of Forensic were more interested in toying with our minds rather than hearts.

Quelle: Berliner Morgenpost, Pfingsten 2000, page 27 or 28

Mark Benecke as The Real Forensic: Kein Doc fuer die Schwarzwaldklinik

Von Andreas Becker
Leichen faszinieren die noch Lebenden. Einmal werden wir auch tot sein - und dann fallen die Maden und Fliegen über uns her. Das ist für viele gruselig oder eklig, für andere sind die Viecher eine wertvolle Informationsquelle. Gerichtsmediziner können anhand der Population, die sich auf einer Leiche bildet, einigermaßen genau den Todeszeitpunkt feststellen. was schon so manches Alibi zum Einsturz brachte.

Eine Theaterinszenierung im Postfuhramt versucht Kapital aus dem vermeintlichen Grusel zu ziehen. Angelockt durch reißerische Texte im Programmheft des "Ab die Post 2000"-Festivals à la "in dieser Soloperformance geht es um Blut, Sperma und Leichen", ist die Werkstatt im Hof des Postfuhramts bis auf den letzten Bierbankplatz besetzt. Nicht Dr. Motte, Dr. Made alias Mark Benecke steht im weißen Ganzkörperdress auf der Bühne. Dr. Benecke wird gespielt vom New Yorker Murat Belcant. Da die Stories, die uns Benecke auftischt, so spannend denn doch nicht sind, hat man allerlei technischen Schnickschnack aufgefahren.

Der Doc, der niemals in der Schwarzwaldklinik einen Job bekommen hätte, packt kontinuierlich Pappkartons aus. Verschiedene englische Aufschriften darauf kündigen das nächste forensische Kurzkapitel an. Zwischendurch ertönt einigermaßen laut Gesampeltes und Gepoltertes oder auch Lou Reeds "Perfect Day". Zur "Baltic Forensic Story" erzählt Dr. Made von einer Wasserleiche, die in der Ostsee gefunden wird. Überm Rettungsring sei der Kopf des Mannes "skelettiert", also völlig kahl gefressen. Unterhalb dagegen habe er sich in eine seifige Fettmasse verwandelt. Nach Bestimmung der Fliegenart, die sich den Skalp einverleibt hatte, konnte man herausfinden, wo der Seemann ins Wasser gefallen war. Kein Mord! Denn in derselben Gegend war zu der Zeit ein Schiff verunglückt. Derlei Schauergeschichten gibts noch aus China und anderen Gegenden zu hören. Ansonsten projiziert man uns allerlei kleine Experimente auf die Leinwand.

Aus einem Karton zieht der Doc eine Portion Reiskörner und teilt diese in drei Hafen. Eine sinnentleerte Handlung, die er noch öfter an diesem Abend ausführen wird. Zweimal werden echte Hühnereier seziert, wohl um eine Analogie zu Maden und Insektenfortpflanzung herzustellen. Benecke drückt auch mal ein Knöpfchen am Labtop oder zeigt einen Kurzfilm vom Schlüpfen eines Schmetterlings. Auf die Dauer ist die Minimaldramaturgie des "Real Forensic" ziemlich ermüdend. Leichen gibts nicht zu sehen - wir sind ja nicht in der Charité. Immerhin findet der Doc in einem der Kartons ein Männchen aus Hackfleisch, das er auseinander schneiden kann.

Nach einer Stunde ist die Schocktherapie schon vorbei. Erstaunlich viel Beifall, kaum blasse Gesichter.

Source: http://www.happening.com.sg/

Want to do something different this weekend? How about spending an evening dissecting a dead man under the guidance of a forensic expert? NING WONG tells you more...

I MUST confess... I was feeling more than sanely excited when I heard about this theatre piece happening at The Substation this coming weekend (Jan 27 & 28). A play based on the study of the rotting dead? Rather refreshing, if you don't mind the pun. So what exactly is Post Theatre's The Real Forensic about? Well, to go on about this production, we'd have to first talk about a man - Dr Mark Benecke.

Dr Benecke, as director Max Schumacher would describe him, is the prodigy child of German science. He is known for his method of determining how long a corpse has lain undiscovered by studying the insects on it, a method which he has presented and taught all over the world. A 30-year-old biologist, no other scientist of his age has had so much media exposure - several TV shows have featured his methods and himself as a guest, and tabloid press, popular culture magazines and newspapers of all qualities have been covering Dr Benecke's life.

And so, described as a mixture of a DJ spinning music at a club (performance will be accompanied by Drum 'n' Bass and Einstuerzend Neubauten music) and a documentary theatre production about flies on dead bodies and metamorphosis, The Real Forensic is about the methods and ideas of Dr Benecke and his life as a media personality. And throughout the performance, one will realise a noticeable shift from the forensic interest in dead bodies to the social interest in the forensic expert himself.

Be prepared to be baffled by real scientific instruments, realistic props (1 dead body coming up…) and digital projections that will be employed to create the plane on which flesh meets cyberspace. And in the middle of it all, we have the lonely scientist preaching his work whilst demonstrating it on the cadaver, "played" by local Singaporean Tang Fu Kuen (whose greatest challenge for the evening would most probably be the suppression of a toe itch.)

Portraying Dr Benecke would be actor Murat Belcant who was, incidentally, working on and in a theatre production on Marc Dutroux, a Belgian paedophile cum rapist, prior to The Real Forensic. This switch in the psyche of role characters is reason enough to watch Murat's performance, made more interesting by his biomechanical approach to the study of the dead.

But why study the dead in the first place? I guess there's no one better to tell us than director Max Schumacher himself:
Who came up with the idea of writing and creating The Real Forensic?
Max: Me, when I was living in New York, met up with Dr Benecke and started debating the relevance of the body.
Was it written with specifically Dr Mark Benecke in mind?
Max: Yes, it's not just about forensic medical examination in general, but a superstar of science (in Germany at least). The text is composed out of original statements by and about Dr.Benecke.
So why did you select Dr Benecke as the subject of study?
Max: Well, Dr Benecke is not just a biologist, but a criminal biologist dealing with sex, crime and mystery, which are all part of popular entertainment. I wanted to portrait both the media view on the celebrated Dr Benecke and - as an analogy - the scientist's eye on insects, his "tiny assistants".
Why doesn't Dr Mark Benecke take up the role himself, to introduce a firsthand experience to the interested audience?
Max: Good idea! But having Murat Belcant is a privilege too. He has been performing interesting portrait performances too, and he has been working closely with Dr Benecke to learn his methods etc.
Why such an interest in forensics or dead bodies? How did such an interest come about?
Max: I got bored of living bodies. What happens to the body after life? Why is it seen as disgusting? Is there beauty in the fascination of decay? The body becomes a nourishing ground - and the examiner can read it like a crime novel.
What makes you think the audience will be intrigued by all this talk about dead bodies?
Max: There is a very living body performing, contrasting death with youthful vigor. Also you'll learn things about dead bodies you never knew.
What do you hope to achieve with a production like this?
Max: We rather hope to raise questions about media curiosity about a star. We try to show the ambivalence of examination: Can there be beauty in the macabre? Is disgust just a social convention? On an educational level - all scientific facts in the show are "water proof" as Dr Benecke was our consultant, and we only use his thoughts. So there is no "cheating" in the biology lesson we give.
Is there an age limit to this theatre piece?
Max: Not that I know. Not that I would recommend.
There you have it, if you want to learn more about how forensic experts can abstract useful information like the time or cause of death from fully decomposed bodies, and how insects can play an important role in assisting them, I guess this is the best place to start. See you at the "seminar"!