Deutsches Theater: Emilia Galotti - Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada
Place: Stratford
Event: Supported by the Goethe-Institut Toronto, the Stratford Festival proudly presents Michael Thalheimer's critically-acclaimed production of Lessing's classic "Emilia Galotti".
4.5 / 5 Stars
Shakespeare shows us that plays do not lose the relevancy they possess over the mere turning of time; after all we still ask the questions Hamlet did. In the shaping of time and history, some plays are just as relevant as ever, and the Stratford Shakespeare Festivals final play of the season (performed by a traveling tour from the Deutsches Theater Berlin), Emilia Galotti, originally produced in 1772, can be both modern and post-modern at the same time. (…)
The set was poignantly barren, with a plain white wall at the pinnacle of a forced perspective set that was flanked by wide, light-brown panels. The costumes were clean as the men dressed in suits and the women dressed in minimalist outfits that one might have pegged a Vera Wang influence on. The void set and costumes brought the plays story to present day, but hailed a futuristic feel as well in tow. Definitely, the music thrust the viewers into the post-modernist feeling as the theme music was predominantly a perpetual plucking of violin strings, with the occasional sweeping overture from the violin in its truest use.
Aside from the costumes and set, even though the production was in German with surtitles, it was easily the performances that made this version of Emilia Galotti so compelling. Regine Zimmermann as Emilia was enigmatic, as was her Mother, performed by Barbara Schnitzler. Much of the plays comedy came from Ingo Hulsmann as Marinelli, who was a persistent go-between throughout the plot; he both did the Prince’s bidding, and clearly defined his own part within the story as well. Orsina, the scorned woman, played by Ingo Hulsmann was both beautiful, and aptly cold. Both Emilia’s Father and her fiancée, Peter Pagel and Henning Vogt respectively, had brief but pertinent roles that they made full of depth. However, my complete awe goes to Sven Lehmann as the Prince, who is enraptured by the ideal of love and somewhat captivated by his own image in such an expression. Lehmann was delightfully watchable throughout. The whole cast played equally off each other, to pull a stunning performance together. Each performer appeared to have an awesome understanding of emotion unhinged.
Much of the Emilia Galotti was revealed through performance as opposed to language, and some fantastic existentialist humour, and intense emotion, was riveting to watch in this bourgeois tragedy. Emilia Galotti was Shakespearean in its ‘oomph’ but Nietzsche in its form. (…)
Event: Supported by the Goethe-Institut Toronto, the Stratford Festival proudly presents Michael Thalheimer's critically-acclaimed production of Lessing's classic "Emilia Galotti".
4.5 / 5 Stars
Shakespeare shows us that plays do not lose the relevancy they possess over the mere turning of time; after all we still ask the questions Hamlet did. In the shaping of time and history, some plays are just as relevant as ever, and the Stratford Shakespeare Festivals final play of the season (performed by a traveling tour from the Deutsches Theater Berlin), Emilia Galotti, originally produced in 1772, can be both modern and post-modern at the same time. (…)
The set was poignantly barren, with a plain white wall at the pinnacle of a forced perspective set that was flanked by wide, light-brown panels. The costumes were clean as the men dressed in suits and the women dressed in minimalist outfits that one might have pegged a Vera Wang influence on. The void set and costumes brought the plays story to present day, but hailed a futuristic feel as well in tow. Definitely, the music thrust the viewers into the post-modernist feeling as the theme music was predominantly a perpetual plucking of violin strings, with the occasional sweeping overture from the violin in its truest use.
Aside from the costumes and set, even though the production was in German with surtitles, it was easily the performances that made this version of Emilia Galotti so compelling. Regine Zimmermann as Emilia was enigmatic, as was her Mother, performed by Barbara Schnitzler. Much of the plays comedy came from Ingo Hulsmann as Marinelli, who was a persistent go-between throughout the plot; he both did the Prince’s bidding, and clearly defined his own part within the story as well. Orsina, the scorned woman, played by Ingo Hulsmann was both beautiful, and aptly cold. Both Emilia’s Father and her fiancée, Peter Pagel and Henning Vogt respectively, had brief but pertinent roles that they made full of depth. However, my complete awe goes to Sven Lehmann as the Prince, who is enraptured by the ideal of love and somewhat captivated by his own image in such an expression. Lehmann was delightfully watchable throughout. The whole cast played equally off each other, to pull a stunning performance together. Each performer appeared to have an awesome understanding of emotion unhinged.
Much of the Emilia Galotti was revealed through performance as opposed to language, and some fantastic existentialist humour, and intense emotion, was riveting to watch in this bourgeois tragedy. Emilia Galotti was Shakespearean in its ‘oomph’ but Nietzsche in its form. (…)
by Kindah Mardam Bey, A 'n' E Vibe, 11 November, 2008
info@toronto.goethe.org
Directions
