King Lear between war and love: spectacular premiere in Heidelberg!
King Lear between war and love: spectacular premiere in Heidelberg!
In Heidelberg, the latest performance of the Heidelberg Theater causes a stir: On July 5, 2025, the adaptation of Shakespeares King Lear under the title King Lear - the last gang premiere. Directed by the talented Stas Zhyrkov, which also caused a sensation with other projects in connection with Ukrainian culture in exile, such as the premiere of the piece postcards from the East on the Schaubühne. This staging brought refugee Ukrainians together: inside who discuss their experiences in the war - a topic that remains equally explosive in the current performance.
Based on a text by Pavlo Arie, which comes from Lwiw and works in Kyjiw, the action shifts from an aristocratic to a petty bourgeois milieu. Lear is no longer a king here, but the operator of a small restaurant called "Lyra". The characterization of the family members is particularly remarkable: Cordelia, the youngest daughter, is presented as a lesbian. However, the adaptation not only remains innovative in its presentation, it also suffers from the loss of essential elements in the original story, such as the Glosterhandlung and the Count of Kent.culture as resistance
The piece is performed against the background of a profound cultural struggle, which was reinforced by the war in Ukraine. In Luhansk, the great Ukrainian national poet Taras Schewtschenko is even portrayed as a "Russian Poet", which is still illustrated by the problem mentioned above. The cultural institutions, including theater, play a crucial role by trying to make endangered culture accessible. This becomes clear in Heidelberg's performance, which both stimulates the audience as well as to think about the topics of war and displacement.
Despite the questions raised about love and family, many reviewers criticize that the text and execution do not adequately treat the complex issues of war and collapse. A diagram from the program shows that director Zhyrkov sees the impressive topics as omnipresent, which, however, does not really come into their own in the play. The ensemble tries to breathe life into the text through strange elements, but the brittle language in the German translation is more behind the expectations.
creative minds behind the scenes
The participants of this staging include Hans Fleischmann, Henriette Blumenau and Lisa Förster, who all do their best to give the characters and fragile relationships between them more depth. The entire performance takes 1 hour and 50 minutes without a break. It is to be hoped that the audience will not only be entertained, but also to be thought about. After all, theater is often a way to ask questions that are very crowded in times of crisis anyway.The stage is not only a place of building, but also a place of resistance, as so many directors and actors emphasize in Ukraine. While in many productions, such as in the witch of Konotop , is trying to find comfort through satirical stories and to reflect current problems, a similar approach is pursued in Heidelberg, but with a different focus.
For more information about the theater and future performances, a visit to the official website of the theater is worthwhile: www.theaterheidelberg.de . Theater is not only art, but also a significant part of the cultural history of a country - in good and difficult times.
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| Ort | Heidelberg, Deutschland |
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