Theatre | The 10 Selected Productions
Don Carlos, Infante of Spain
A dramatic poem by Friedrich Schiller
Burgtheater Wien
Premiere 30 April 2004
Don Carlos © Bernd Uhlig
Andrea Breth proves once again that you can tackle classic texts with all the tools of psychological theatre. Designer Martin Zehetgruber has relocated the royal palace to a labyrinthine open-plan office with glass partitions – an image of the totalitarian, surveillance society in which “Don Carlos” is set. Sven-Eric Bechtolf plays King Philip as a power broker with a conscience: a cruel bureaucrat disgusted with himself and the whole world; an unhappy man who can trust no one, a fact that costs him his sleep and almost his sanity. This four hour production develops a surreal magnetism, making Schiller a purveyor of nightmares on a par with David Lynch.
W.K.
“It is not the people who control the system. The system controls the people. There is only one way out: death.” (SZ)
Cast
Directed by – Andrea Breth
Stage Design – Martin Zehetgruber
Costume Design – Françoise Clavel
Music – Bert Wrede
Sound Design – Alexander Nefzger
Lighting Design – Alexander Koppelmann
Dramaturgy – Wolfgang Wiens
Philip II. – Sven Eric Bechtolf
Elizabeth of Valois – Johanna Wokalek
Don Carlos – Philipp Hauß
Alexander Farnese – Patrick O. Beck
Infante Clara Eugenia – Melissa Aichholzer / Helena Bauer-Mitterlehner / Gretchen Hering
Countess of Olivarez – Kitty Speiser
Marquis of Mondecar – Andrea Clausen
Princess of Eboli – Christiane von Poelnitz
Countess Fuentes – Blanka Modra
Marquis of Posa – Denis Petkovic
Duke of Alba – Nicholas Ofczarek
Cout of Lerma – Bernd Birkhahn
Count of Feria – Franz J. Csencsits
Duke of Medina Sidonia – Nick Monu
Don Raimond of Taxis – Wolfgang Gasser
Domingo – Cornelius Obonya
The Great Inquisitor – Elisabeth Orth
Page – Daniel Jesch
and others