Schauspielhaus Graz

The road to a happy ending is long and very slippery

"Minna von Barnhelm" at the Schauspielhaus Graz

(Bild: Lex Karelly)

Schauspielhaus Graz brings Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's comedy "Minna von Barnhelm" to the stage in an entertaining and cleverly modernized version that has what it takes to become a real hit with audiences.

The war is over, but the aftermath can still be felt: Major von Tellheim's arm is not only cracked, but also his pride and honor - not to mention his empty wallet. He no longer feels that he deserves the love or even the hand of his beloved Minna von Barnhelm. So he retires with his faithful servant Just to the inn of a curious landlady. When Minna appears there with her chambermaid Franziska and later Tellheim's constable Werner, the first comedy in German-language theater history picks up speed.

Director Ulrike Arnold and dramaturge Anna-Sophia Güther have removed the classic from the historical context of the aftermath of the Seven Years' War, setting the action in a wonderfully out-of-time hotel with 1980s charm and focusing on the core personnel and their financial and romantic hardships.

Anke Stedingk as Minna and Sebastian Schindegger as Tellheim

(Bild: Lex Karelly)

They play with the original text without forcing it to be modernized. Set designer Franziska Bornkamm has developed a flood of chambers for this purpose, which pass by the viewer's eye as vignettes, like in an old click camera. And as was the case with click cameras back then, the images sometimes get stuck and reveal a glimpse into dark abysses.

Brilliant comedic performances
Above all, however, this Graz version of "Minna" offers the actors a stage for brilliant comedic performances: In the title role, Anke Stedingk oscillates splendidly between blind infatuation and cool calculation. Sebastian Schindegger wallows wonderfully in his own pity as Tellheim. Sarah Sophia Meyer (Franziska) and Simon Kirsch (Paul Werner) perform a wonderful slapstick tango of passion. And Annette Holzmann (Landlady) and Thomas Kramer (Just) complete the great ensemble.

Slapstick at its best: Sarah Sophia Meyer as Franziska and Simon Kirsch as Constable Werner

(Bild: Lex Karelly)

Clever and above all entertaining, this "Minna" explores the relationship between monetary possessions and self-worth as well as between freedom and the ability to love - the question of how expensive happiness is and how slippery the path to it is always hanging in the air. 

The Graz version also knows how to poke fun at itself. For example, the inevitable happy ending of such a comedy forces its way into the scenery long before the end of the play in the form of a giant plush heart - and thus also poses an exciting question to the audience: Is love really the best possible ending for these characters, or are they perhaps paying too high a price for it?