Ein Sommernachtstraum

By William Shakespeare at the Forum Theater.

With Schirin Brendel, Hannah Jasna Hess, Mariam Jincharadze, Gundi Anna Schick, Stefan Maaß, Christian Streit, Christopher Wittkopp
Directed by Dieter Nelle
Stage and costumes: Marcel Keller

In mythical Athens, Theseus wants to marry the Amazon Hipollyta, but the wedding preparations are disrupted by a quarrel. Egeus asks the ruler of Athens for arbitration, as his daughter does not want to marry the man her father has chosen for her. The ruler gives the young woman four days to think things over.

She uses this time to flee to the Athenian forest with her lover. But it is precisely in this forest that some craftsmen have sought shelter to rehearse a play for the prince's wedding. And the fairy queen Titania and the fairy king Oberon have also found shelter in this very forest. Titania and Oberon are at loggerheads with each other. They are fighting over the custody of a boy they both claim for themselves. As a result, the entire natural structure is out of kilter: the seasons are in disarray, epidemics are spreading among the cattle and floods are inundating the fields. Oberon decides to teach Titania a lesson and make her fall in love with an animal with the help of a magical flower. Puck, Oberon's chaos-drunk helper, is given the task of carrying this out. He first tries out the magic herb on a human, which sets off a wild round of changing infatuations, and the craftsmen who are rehearsing the play there also come in handy for Puck.

Everything gets mixed up: the companionship, the genders, the play within the play - and everything seeks a new balance. Just like in real life.

Perhaps Shakespeare's most beautiful play is finally with us.