FFreedom is a dazzling theoretical term and the opposite of many. Sometimes determinism stands in her way, sometimes her origins or a dictator waging war at home and abroad, sometimes an arrest, sometimes a pandemic and finally death. Being free from something can sometimes be as desirable as the freedom to do or not to do something. The proof is provided by the Hamburg Theater Festival from the end of April to the beginning of June with six outstanding productions by major German-speaking theaters, which can be seen as guest performances in Hamburg houses.
Festival director Nikolaus Besch has once again made a tasteful decision on what he buys with the funds from the supporting foundation, the income from ticket sales, the subsidies indirectly used by state productions and the funds from sponsors. A true theater festival awaits in Hamburg. Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) takes over the patronage.
Guest performances and festival talk evening
The colorful series of guest performances begins with Carlo Goldoni’s “The Servant of Two Masters” in a revised and over-the-top version by director Antù Romero Nunes. Possibly inspired by the play “J’accuse” by René Pollesch in Hamburg’s Schauspielhaus, the director moves the scene of the comedy about the enterprising servant to the Wild West, the home of cattle-breeding capitalism, and invites an all-female ensemble onto the scene.
The ladies speak excellent Denglish and fight their way through their fate in trouser roles. The servant is about financial freedom, and everyone is about the freedom to be happy with the great love. The production by the Berliner Ensemble with Constanze Becker, Stefanie Reinsperger, Judith Engel, Lili Epply and Cynthia Micas was enthusiastically celebrated in Berlin. In Hamburg it will be shown on April 29th and 30th at the St. Pauli Theater.
Traditionally, the festival series not only features guest performances, but also a festival talk evening. Actress Nina Hoss and actor Burkhart Klaußner talked to each other on May 4th. Similar to a television talk show, it is not only about the life and work of the two stars, but also about contemporary issues, art, society and politics. Like the prelude, the talk takes place in the St. Pauli Theater.
It continues with “Birds” by Wajdi Muawad, who deals with the traumatizing consequences of the Middle East conflict in a play about a Jewish-Arab couple from hostile families. With a different punch line and a different ending, the story begins somewhat like that of Romeo and Juliet. Director Stefan Bachmann explores the question of whether freedom from war, freedom to start anew, is possible. On May 10th and 11th, the Thalia Theater will host the Schauspiel Köln with an eight-person ensemble.
The Vienna Burgtheater is making a guest appearance with “Maria Schiller” by Friedrich Schiller in a lavish production by Martin Kusej. With stars like Birgit Minichmayr and Bibiana Beglau, to name just two of the 38 participants, 30 of whom are extras. The unforgettable tableaus in Kusej’s thriller about power, freedom, to rule and to kill can be experienced on May 14th and 15th at Kampnagel. The play had its premiere at the Salzburg Festival in August 2021.
The Thalia Theater then presents the next double whammy with Ivanov by Anton Chekhov, who energetically takes the liberty of experimenting with his life plan until he feels compelled to shoot himself. Jens Harzer plays the prototype of the unfortunate wrong lover in a production by Johan Simons at the Bochum theater on May 24th and 25th.
Chekhov’s Ivanov can be seen in a production of the Bochum Schauspielhaus
Source: Monika Rittershaus
As immortal as Ivanov, who shoots himself, in Chekhov’s melancholic comedy with an unfortunate ending, is “The Misanthrope” by Molière, which director Anne Lenk has reinterpreted at the Deutsches Theater. In the title role, Ulrich Matthes makes a significant contribution to the success of this production, and the director sets the stage for the joke. In Hamburg, the evening runs in the Deutsches Schauspielhaus on May 31st and June 1st.
At the end of the festival, on June 3rd and 4th, the Burgtheater Wien will present hell as the opposite of freedom in the Deutsches Schauspielhaus. In “Closed Society” by Jean-Paul Sartre, the inmates spend eternity making death hell after life, because, according to Sartre: “Hell is always the others.”
So the piece was originally entitled “The Others”, although the title “The Hell” was never seriously considered. The damned are imprisoned by a mysterious servant of many masters. Director Martin Kusej also directed this Burgtheater production.
Incidentally, the freedom of staging in the theater is not only the freedom of those who think differently, but also that of those who act and create differently. It’s a shame that there are so many theaters in other cities. But now they are finally coming back to Hamburg. And whoever is free can go.
Theater Festival Hamburg, April 29th to June 4th. Tickets at the respective guest theaters, Hamburg ticket offices and at www.hamburgertheaterfestival.de