DAS KÄTHCHEN VON HEILBRONN

In the organizer's words:

THE KÄTHCHEN OF HEILBRONN

by Heinrich von Kleist in a version by Elsa-Sophie Jach with texts from "Kein Ort. Nowhere" by Christa Wolf

2 hours 20 minutes
No intermission

"Allowed! I am the happiest of men!"

No other play by Heinrich von Kleist is given as many superlatives as his "Käthchen von Heilbronn". It is not only the most successful, but also the most romantic, fairytale-like and at the same time the most enigmatic that he wrote. And indeed, Kleist brings together everything the theater had to offer in 1807: a mysterious female court, knightly battles, a burning castle, a cherub, as well as devious intrigues, a poison plot and a plethora of exchanged letters. Kleist's world, it seems, is in turmoil. Only Käthchen, the daughter of a Heilbronn armourer, is not deterred by anything. She resolutely follows the path revealed to her in a dream. She follows in the footsteps of Count Wetter vom Strahl, who was prophesied to be the love of her life in the dream. But it is precisely because the world around Käthchen seems so chaotic and fairytale-like that her perseverance and conviction seem all the more authentic.

For Elsa-Sophie Jach, resident director at the Residenztheater, Käthchen is the alter ego of her creator. Kleist also felt misunderstood and was regarded by many as an eccentric who, despite some disappointments, firmly believed in his path as an author. Like him, his Käthchen is a fighter for words and poetry. And she is his ally in his search for a counterpart who is worth living with.

"Kleist's characters dance between the words and yet cannot speak. They talk for their lives, stutter, lurch, breathe heavily, break off and remain silent. Again and again they faint. The break in the language becomes the actual content of what is said, the appearance of the gaps becomes a second notation, Kleist's own struggle for audibility in a bourgeois society in which he feels completely misunderstood becomes the starting point of his writing." Elsa-Sophie Jach

ARTISTIC DIRECTION

Production Elsa-Sophie Jach
Stage Marlene Lockemann
Costumes Johanna Stenzel
Music Samuel Wootton
Video Jonas Alsleben
Lighting Barbara Westernach
Dramaturgy Michael Billenkamp

Price information:

10€ for students