GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN

In the organizer's words:

GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN

after Johann Wolfgang Goethe by Alexander Eisenach

Age recommendation: from 14 years

"Happiness is starting to become fickle for me."

When Goethe put his "Götz von Berlichingen" down on paper in 1771 in a veritable writing frenzy, he was still a blank page as an author at the age of 22. This changed abruptly with the publication of his "Götz", and overnight the young poet became the talk of the town. Goethe's early work is a huge scenic epic with over fifty settings, several parallel plots and a huge cast of characters. What's more, Goethe rejects all the usual conventions of 18th century drama. Influenced by Shakespeare's open dramaturgy, his "Götz" became a style-setter for an entire era: the Sturm und Drang. Goethe used the biography of the knight Gottfried von Berlichingen (1480-1562) as a model, who refused to bow to the impending social changes and continued to cling firmly to the long-outdated medieval code of chivalry. Goethe turns the restorative role model into a freedom fighter who opposes the feudal and clerical despotism with an "iron fist". "Götz von Berlichingen" is Goethe's reckoning with the absolutism of his time, culminating in the famous "Swabian Salute":

"But he, tell him, he can lick my ass!"

For author and director Alexander Eisenach, however, the character of Götz is closer to a reactionary angry citizen than a sincere revolutionary: "History is about to pass over someone who always saw his life as a heroic story. Götz is the symptom of a humanity that, in its hubris, has distanced itself from itself and the planet on which it lives. A species that considers itself divine and believes it can subjugate everything to its rule. Who would have thought it possible that democracy would once again be so shaken? Götz is the lure of the irrational, the thrill of transgression, the shaman of rage." Alexander Eisenach

After "Einer gegen alle" and "Der Schiffbruch der Fregatte Medusa", "Götz von Berlichingen" is Alexander Eisenach's third work at the Munich Residenztheater.

ARTISTIC DIRECTION

Production Alexander Eisenach
Stage Daniel Wollenzin
Costumes Claudia Irro
Music Benedikt Brachtel, Sven Michelson
Video Oliver Rossol
Lighting Verena Mayr
Dramaturgy Michael Billenkamp

Price information:

10€ for students