The Burning Village at the Stadttheater in Constance
Premiere on April 19 directed by Andrej Woron
Fassbinder’s play The Burning Village (Das brennende Dorf), which is based in the seventeenth-century drama Fuente Ovejuna by Lope de Vega, is being presented in the current theater season by the Stadttheater in Constance. RWF wrote the play, which is a very free interpretation of the original work, in 1969/1970 for the Theater Bremen during Kurt Hühner’s tenure as artistic director, and it had its world premiere there on November 17, 1970. The play deals with historical events that took place the Spanish village of Fuente Ovejuna in Castile in 1476. In response to their mistreatment by a local commander, the villagers band together and murder him. In an act of solidarity the whole village then declares itself responsible for the murder to King Ferdinand, who responds by issuing a pardon. However, when the village community subsequently identifies the responsible individuals, the ruler decides that the entire population should be executed. The unavoidable result is revolution. The king and his family are murdered as tyrants. And Fassbinder goes even a step further. The official announcement of the play in Constance quotes him from the original production program: “Domination has something to do with cannibalism, and at some point brutality generates counter-brutality. It is thus quite clear that the repressed will ultimately become cannibals.” All that remains to add is the slogan adopted by East German protestors: “We are the people!”
Performances in April, all beginning at 8 p.m.:
• FRIDAY, April 19, 2013
• SATURDAY, April 20, 2013
• WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2013
• SATURDAY, April 27, 2013
• TUESDAY, April 30, 2013
Performances in May:
• FRIDAY, May 3, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
• SATURDAY, May 4, 2013, 8 p.m.
• SUNDAY, May 12, 2013, 6 p.m.
• TUESDAY, May 14, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
• WEDNESDAY, May 15, 2013, 8 p.m.
• THURSDAY, May 16, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
• FRIDAY, May 17, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
• WEDNESDAY, May 22, 2013, 3:00 p.m.
• THURSDAY, May 23, 2013, 8:00 p.m.
More information:
Stadttheater Konstanz
Inselgasse 2-6
D-78462 Konstanz
Tel.: +49 (0)7531 900150
E-mail: theaterkasse@stadt.konstanz.de
Photos: © Ilja Mess / Stadttheater Konstanz