"Jan Plewka sings Rio Reiser" was one of the great successes at the Hamburg Schauspielhaus over ten years ago under the then artistic director Tom Stromberg. The performances were always sold out and the production has since been performed over 300 times throughout Germany. Now there is a second part of the evening, finally!
WANN, WENN NICHT JETZT? again brings together songs from the time of Rio Reiser's solo career, but focuses on the songs from the Ton Steine Scherben years. Jan Plewka and Die Schwarz-Rote Heilsarmee bring the music of the Scherben into the present. The songs have become darker and harder. The will to change back then is charged with anger about today's conditions and made palpable. The cheerful hits and tender love songs have given way to political and combative songs. No more "König von Deutschland", no more "Junimond". They play "Jenseits von Eden", "Warum geht es mir so dreckig?" and "Macht kaputt, was Euch kaputt macht".
A big, powerful and visually rich show that moves between theater, performance and concert. And Jan Plewka once again follows in the footsteps of Rio Reiser, turning his songs into his own on stage. This music is not at all outdated, according to the Hamburger Abendblatt - and "Jan Plewka sings Rio Reiser, Part 2" is another stroke of genius from Stromberg and Plewka.
"Plewka proves to be a gifted performer who doesn't imitate Reiser, but plays the songs as if they were his own."
(Hamburger Abendblatt)