Don Carlos
by Friedrich Schiller
During the era of bloody religious wars, the Spanish empire under King Philip begins to collapse. He is emotionally spent and wasted. There is no heir in sight. Not only does he prevent his own son, Don Carlos, from claiming power, he also refuses him any form of love. Philip himself marries Elisabeth von Valios, his son’s promised bride, crowning her as the Queen of Spain. Carlos frets at the futility of his love and actions, while Domingo and the Duke of Alba, a pair of church and military careerists, forge plans to seize power. In the midst of this confusion, Marquis Posa arrives – a childhood friend of Carlos’ and a former royal servant, now a freethinker, who has witnessed the terrors of the religious wars and fundamentalist power struggles. He fights for a path of tolerance, and, for a brief moment, he succeeds in adding movement to the political power structures paralysed by cynicism and isolation. But these destructive influences do not rest for long.
Director Stephan Kimmig
Set Katja Haß
Costumes Anja Rabes
Music Michael Verhovec
Dramaturgy John von Düffel
Premiere Apirl 30, 2015
Ulrich MatthesKing Philipp
Katrin WichmannElisabeth
Alexander KhuonDon Carlos
Andreas DöhlerMarquis de Posa
Kathleen MorgeneyerPrincess Eboli
Henning VogtDuke of Alva
Jürgen HuthDomingo
Barbara SchnitzlerGrand Inquisitor
King Philipp
Elisabeth
Don Carlos
Marquis de Posa
Princess Eboli
Duke of Alva
Domingo
Grand Inquisitor
"The power intrigues of the political functionaries hardened by cynicism and iron-clad smiles (wonderfully played by Barbara Schnitzler as the Grand Inquisitor, a dominatrix of the Catholic counter-revolution) can vie any time with the Washington of House of Cards along with Schiller’s reflections on the nature of political power. In Kimmig’s taut, exciting production, even the short circuits running between illegitimate erotic desire (…) and politics have the sophistication of a very cleverly constructed TV series. (…) In Schiller, Kimmig examines our barbaric past – and disturbingly connects it to a modern political-business world where power is exercised without feeling." Schiller thriller
"The power intrigues of the political functionaries hardened by cynicism and iron-clad smiles (wonderfully played by Barbara Schnitzler as the Grand Inquisitor, a dominatrix of the Catholic counter-revolution) can vie any time with the Washington of House of Cards along with Schiller’s reflections on the nature of political power. In Kimmig’s taut, exciting production, even the short circuits running between illegitimate erotic desire (…) and politics have the sophistication of a very cleverly constructed TV series. (…) In Schiller, Kimmig examines our barbaric past – and disturbingly connects it to a modern political-business world where power is exercised without feeling."
“An excellent ensemble celebrates Schiller’s statesmanship drama in a very modern guise. It is ruled by Ulrich Matthes as the monarch Philipp, who wants to escape from the state’s ruthless power tactics, and Alexander Khoun as the eponymous prince, whom Khoun interprets not as a figure swayed by doubt and weakness, but brimming with passion and spirit. (…) The play, which, due to the “Grant freedom of though, sire!” speech by the pre-revolutionary Marquis of Posa, is often staged as a Sturm und Drang drama, drops to the freezing point of power-manoeuvring in this production by Stephan Kimmig, which has an fittingly sceptical take on the future. What is exhilarating is the sudden drop in temperature from the clear heights of idealism and flawed projections of love.” Raison d’état theatre
“An excellent ensemble celebrates Schiller’s statesmanship drama in a very modern guise. It is ruled by Ulrich Matthes as the monarch Philipp, who wants to escape from the state’s ruthless power tactics, and Alexander Khoun as the eponymous prince, whom Khoun interprets not as a figure swayed by doubt and weakness, but brimming with passion and spirit. (…) The play, which, due to the “Grant freedom of though, sire!” speech by the pre-revolutionary Marquis of Posa, is often staged as a Sturm und Drang drama, drops to the freezing point of power-manoeuvring in this production by Stephan Kimmig, which has an fittingly sceptical take on the future. What is exhilarating is the sudden drop in temperature from the clear heights of idealism and flawed projections of love.”
“What a nerve-jangling, heart-stopping think-tank of an adventure! With little more than actors who are allowed to say what they think and know what they’re doing. And who, in doing so, exhibit the freedom of their acting and the lack of freedom in our lives.” Freedom or decay
“What a nerve-jangling, heart-stopping think-tank of an adventure! With little more than actors who are allowed to say what they think and know what they’re doing. And who, in doing so, exhibit the freedom of their acting and the lack of freedom in our lives.”
“Kimmig is more capable than ever of fulfilling the famous dictum of the great-grand-critic, Alfred Kerr: namely, of giving this classical ‘word opera’ a conversational tone. The monologues by exhausted, company-starved Philipp (Ulrich Matthes) or the naïve, boyish Carlos (Alexander Khoun), the repressed, angry Eboli (Kathleen Morgeneyer) and the uptight, controlling Elisabeth (Katrin Wichmann) – each and every one are heart-breaking in their chaos of madness, stubbornness, upheaval, pain, desperation and forlornness. And at the centre: Andreas Döhler’s Posa: macho, sarcastic, witty – an altogether modern figure. All of them chafe themselves raw with unfulfilment, thwarted desire, fatal mistakes and obstinacy. This is great character theatre crafted from great rhetorical skill. Explosive and heated or stern and chilly, they always draw on the universal. Kimmig unleashes the vitriolic dialogues and sometimes turns them into deeply violent battles of language.” Failing better with Schiller
“Kimmig is more capable than ever of fulfilling the famous dictum of the great-grand-critic, Alfred Kerr: namely, of giving this classical ‘word opera’ a conversational tone. The monologues by exhausted, company-starved Philipp (Ulrich Matthes) or the naïve, boyish Carlos (Alexander Khoun), the repressed, angry Eboli (Kathleen Morgeneyer) and the uptight, controlling Elisabeth (Katrin Wichmann) – each and every one are heart-breaking in their chaos of madness, stubbornness, upheaval, pain, desperation and forlornness. And at the centre: Andreas Döhler’s Posa: macho, sarcastic, witty – an altogether modern figure. All of them chafe themselves raw with unfulfilment, thwarted desire, fatal mistakes and obstinacy. This is great character theatre crafted from great rhetorical skill. Explosive and heated or stern and chilly, they always draw on the universal. Kimmig unleashes the vitriolic dialogues and sometimes turns them into deeply violent battles of language.”