WER HAT ANGST VOR EMILIA GALOTTI?

In 1772, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing created “Emilia Galotti”, a bourgeois tragedy of brutal force that remains a staple of school curricula and theatre stages alike. At its centre is Emilia Galotti, the titular figure: young, virtuous, and desired. Yet she appears in only a handful of scenes. Six brief moments are enough to set the fate of all the other characters in motion.

For years, a well-known actress has died on stage as Emilia Galotti. Over time, both she and Emilia have grown older. Too old, in the eyes of the director of the acclaimed production, who then tasks his leading actress with training her successor. She may be eager to step into the title role, but she has her own, very particular vision of how it should be played. Whether she will perform the death scene is another matter entirely. As they rehearse the pivotal scenes, the present and future Emilia wrestle for control over the character’s portrayal. Has the former Emilia put up with too much? Does the future Emilia have any sense of what the older generation fought for on her behalf? At a time when traditional gender roles are being both passionately questioned and fiercely defended, the wildi blaatere network goes to the places where we (re)produce them, asking what the canon still has to say to us today.

♥ The Junges Schauspielhaus is supported by the Komplizen Klub.