2023-05-01 12:27:00
Unfortunately, the concept does not work in the Chemnitz production of “Freischütz”. The characters act eratic and are not conclusive in themselves. They don’t tell each other on stage, they don’t seem comprehensible. It is clear that closed communities have downsides. But showing them all as fascists and pedophiles is quite a feat. Yes, the “Freischütz” is often naive and anachronistic in its actual story, men make decisions over the heads of women. The clock has definitely moved on since then. But it’s hard to bear that Agathe’s father gropes his daughter while the bridesmaids sing with bunny ears about winding the maiden’s wreath.
Conclusion: Under the icing only desert dystopia
The attempt to scrape the icing off the overly sweet opera material and see what lies beneath is palpable. Likewise the feminist approach, the passive role, the emotional appearance of the players who have experienced abuse. The indictment of a society that looks the other way. However, what has emerged is a paramilitary nightmare world, a dystopian place of unclear and unresolved trauma with corrupt police. A place far from nature, where traditions are lived in a perverted way and encourage abuse.
Unfortunately, the production raises more questions than it provides answers. Song and dialogue texts allow for this reading, but only to a limited extent, which makes the plot and, above all, the characters difficult to understand. For example, when it comes to the question of why Kaspar Max actually helps. He is told as an ex-soldier who killed children who haunt him in the Wolf’s Glen. But what exactly he is up to with Max is not told, neither why he is helping him nor what he has to do with the whole shooting society and with the story of abuse surrounding Agathe and her father, which is hinted at. The story has gaps, doesn’t seem conclusive in itself, doesn’t work. It’s a shame, the approach is appealing, but comes to nothing. This is how the extremely divided audience reacted on the evening of the premiere. Some were enthusiastic, others grumbled during the performance and acknowledged the appearance of the production team during the applause order with vehement and repeated boos and whistles.
“The Freeshooter” will be shown again on Friday, May 5th at 7 p.m. in the Chemnitz Opera House. Further information can be found at www.theater-chemnitz.de
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