directed by Markus Bothe for the Schauspielhaus Graz
The adaptation of Molière’s The Misanthrope, or Der Menschenfeind in its German translation, at the Schauspielhaus Graz directed by Markus Bothe, was a fun watch, as well as food for thought! And my goodness did the magnificent neo-classical auditorium lend itself to this 17th century court comedy. I am known to have a FASCINATION with period costumes, so seeing we had a deconstructed robe à la française in beautiful white & blue hues - complementing the deep, majestic, pompous red & gold of the auditorium. Simply sublime! - was setting the scene up pretty well for me! But putting all this pomp aside, the performance was also chilling - meaning that, it was sad to realise that the problems of 17th century society - ignorance and superficiality being top of the list - are still so present around us today. Even sadder is that they are in such an exacerbated way! And of course, comedy is THE genre to point out in the best way the sad reality of a failing society and at the same time somehow try to make you ‘feel better about it’. A bit like a slap in one’s face, but then again, if history has taught us something, that is that we humans will repeat the same mistakes again and again and again.
Der Menschenfeind was fun to watch, not only because of the staging, but also because you could clearly sense the characters were having fun, individually, with the others and with the set. And that was projecting in such a beautiful way over to us, the viewers. One couldn’t resist the joy. And the choice of the set design made it more difficult to withstand the fun!
I mentioned the set a few times now. It was quite a simple one on this occasion - that is if you consider a massive inflatable white bounce house for adults simple - what FUN! Paired with its slick 18th century blue-and-teal-versailles-reminiscent costume design, this production didn’t fail at delivering grandeur, fun, and silliness all at once. That is what I found so clever in the staging and performance of this show, because that is how I would have imagined the court, the aristocracy, the classes of those times to have behaved and carried themselves! For those who aren’t as familiar with history of that time, but are Film & TV connoisseurs, imagine Marie Antoinette-meets-The Great on stage (and if you’ve not seen those, what are you doing with your life?)
@ Schauspielhaus | Lex Karelly
The protagonist Alceste is portrayed as the loner of the whole bunch of characters - even his costume screams that: plain beige and off-white hues, what's that all about?! (brilliant choice to support the narrative!) - the one who considers himself above everyone else, because he not only observes, but also vociferates the flaws, weaknesses and defects of everybody around him. Both the comedy and tragedy of his character lies in the fact that he is desperately in love with Célimène, the female protagonist of this comedy, who loves all things fashion, gossip, and entertainment, representing the exact type of person who Alceste deeply despises and criticises.
The ‘creme de la creme’ of the society is represented by all the other characters present in the performance, and to a certain extent it would be quite difficult not to be able to identify with at least one of them - that is of course if you are brave enough to do so. We are talking about the type of people who live for and thrive on playing other people, taking advantage of them whenever it is possible for the simple and shallow reason of entertaining oneself and one’s entourage. The fact that parallel narratives are created with, about and around them, that rumours about them spread like wildfire leading to fabricated storylines, that tight-knit gossip nests are the only ‘true’ entertainment for our character, doesn’t seem to bother them at all, or at least they play their part of not being too bothered very well. Alceste finds himself alone and quite frankly frustrated with all of this, not realising - or not wanting to realise and accept - that the more he points out the foul behaviour of his immediate social surroundings, the more he criticises them, the more the tries to reason with them, the more he isolates himself and - maybe even unintentionally - gets himself ostracised by the only people who actually would put up with him and his moods. His lack of
@ Schauspielhaus | Lex Karelly understanding, or rather his stubbornness to understand the rules of the game, and how to play it, are crucial for him to first and foremost fit in this superficial society and then try to bring forth change once he’s established in it - a.k.a. learning to play the game better than the others and beat them at it! One can only pity him at times, because due to his unyielding approach, and what I also consider his biggest struggle, he’s an easy prey for the others, for them to take advantage of his naivety, and rather sadly for him to become the utmost fool due to his overly-optimistic views on human nature.
@ Schauspielhaus | Lex Karelly
Despite this play being a comedy, and therefore achieving to entertain us thoroughly, there was one actor who’s characters - he played three! - simply stole the show. I was amazed how brilliantly actor Florian Köhler could juggle between three very distinct and BIG characters - what I mean by big is not in the size, or the amount of lines, but rather in the…personality of these. Of course the costume changes helped, but it is the technique and work the actor puts in to outline the distinctive and unique character traits. And Florian was simply outstanding in doing so. Having said that though, each and every other character was so strong on their own - again kudos to the ensemble of the SHG - that, if anything, their interaction, reactions and actions only elevated the other’s performance and vice-versa. So ultimately it was wonderful to witness how the chemistry and teamwork was making its way through to us viewers so easily, so poignantly, and so extraordinarily.
Molière was clearly ahead of his time when he wrote his pieces, and an excellent people and character analyser. No wonder some of his plays got censored! Even the court couldn’t handle it! But what is theatre if not the best tool of portraying what we see, consciously or unconsciously, in others on a daily basis?
Expressing one’s honest opinions has and will alway have major consequences - so will it ever be right? - shall I take this play as a parallel to today’s hypersensitive generation who can’t - and won’t - take open criticism lightly, without being immediately offended? And god-forbid something more ‘offensive’ is said and/or done (insert own definition to ‘offensive’) because one can get cancelled at any time.
As I mentioned at the very beginning, I find it quite sad and downright distressing that not much has changed in our general human nature since Molière’s time. Only then it wasn’t called ‘cancelled’. More likely one would have been ostracised from society as it is - and I honestly don’t know which one is the lesser evil of both.
@ Schauspielhaus | Lex Karelly
Whether you like it or not, you are part of a system, a carefully balanced system, which only functions when everyone fulfils their part - even if that part is trying to get out of the system. And so a perfect illusion is created, an illusion of a fulfilled and not-too-bad-a-life. The question is though, what if one plays too much with fire and this illusion-bubble bursts…what then? Every now and then, in totally unexpected moments, the inflatable house would start deflating. The clever use of the set design reminds one of exactly this question - those split seconds when you become hyper-conscious of your own body, your present, and your surrounding reality. Is it a sense of relief you start feeling? Or is panic slowly creeping up? So much so that you deliberately choose to ignore it and carry on with the illusion you wish so hard to maintain as your ‘reality’. Thank goodness these unexpected ‘reality checks’ only last a few seconds before everything returns ‘back to normal’. Imagine if you’d be stuck with your own reality forever?! Shocker!
To find out more about this play please visit following link (German only): https://schauspielhaus-graz-archiv.buehnen-graz.com/press-detail/der-menschenfeind/