2023-09-10 05:07:15
Heinrich von Kleist’s “The Broken Jug” is considered the most popular German comedy. It is a courtroom drama and the story of multiple abuses of power, offering extraordinary language and fine roles. That’s why the piece is still widely played over 200 years following its premiere. But you’ve never seen it like it was on Saturday in the Kammerspiele of the Theater in der Josefstadt. Director Amelie Niermeyer had many ideas. Not all of them were good.
Stage designer Stefanie Seitz has moved the auditorium onto the stage and uses the color of the walls and the vaulted arch. This room is a study, living room and negotiation room all in one. A courtroom looks different, but we are also in Huisum, as the village judge Adam and the rest of the population repeatedly assure the judge Walter, who has come for the inspection. Pardon: Judge Walter, because in this case it is a woman. Sandra Cervik is dressed as if she were going on a safari. But instead of a pith helmet, she wears fake joviality. She is taught otherwise: Adam can no longer be helped.
He made a misstep just the evening before and is not only plagued by two painful head wounds, but also by dream figures that are reminiscent of the villagers. For these nightmare sequences, the players wear doll heads with their coarsened facial features – but not only Adam, but also Eve is haunted by these apparitions. The dark secret that the two share with each other is at the center of the play and also the trial: whoever broke the jug that was standing on the window sill in Eve’s room presumably also robbed her of her honor.
Robert Joseph Bartl’s habitus is a perfect choice for the roles; he switches seamlessly from domineering to submissive, from devious to naive. Josefstadt newcomer Juliette Larat as a young girl who is supposed to be made submissive with the opportunity to manipulate the groom’s orders has little opportunity to shine in this setting, in which the shards of the broken jug are glued back together in an sometimes adventurous way . Her quiet desperation is lost in the vortex that Niermeyer creates over long stretches.
Alexander Absenger, as Schreiber Licht, a reserved careerist waiting for his chance, has obviously picked up speed and serves the slapstick track of the evening the most. In between, he is allowed to hammer the minutes of this absurd negotiation, in which Ulli Maier as Mrs. Marthe, Nils Arztmann as Ruprecht and Ljubica Lupo Grujcic as his father also take part, into the computer keyboard.
After the (negotiation) break, which is unusual in the piece, Katharina Klar’s appearance as Ms. Brigitte goes straight into today’s #metoo events. She puts Adam to the sword with her statement and the piece of evidence she brought with her and clearly classifies the event as a case of abuse in a song written by Renate Aichinger: “another case / that joins silently / into your system that waits / stops”.
With such encouragement, Eve also gathers courage and takes the witness stand. Niermeyer has opted for the longer ending rejected by Kleist, in which Adam’s crime is stated more clearly than usual. The young woman only remains silent regarding the exact course of the crucial two minutes. And Judge Walter regrets: In order to get a conviction, she will have to talk regarding it too. The premiere audience, however, had enough: they gave strong applause at the end.
(SERVICE – “The Broken Jug” by Heinrich von Kleist, director: Amélie Niermeyer, set design; Stefanie Seitz, costumes: Christian Schmidt, music: Imre Lichtenberger Bozoki, Kammerspiele der Josefstadt, next performances: 10th, 11th, 14th, 15.9., www.josefstadt.org)
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#metoo #negotiation #Kammerspiele #show #Broken #Jug
