Der zerbrochne Krug (The Broken Jug)

by Heinrich von Kleist
Country judge Adam is truly not to be envied: It’s not just that he tripped and fell when he got out of bed and has a nasty bump on the head. The judiciary wig has also gone missing and he had nightmare – in his dream, he was both the defendant and the judge. And on top of it all, Inspector Walter has announced a visit and his mission is to check that the provincial courts proceed according to standards and orders.

These are the best conditions, therefore, to resolve another delicate case: A valuable jug was broken during the previous night. Marthe Rull appears as both the aggrieved party and the accuser. The whole thing, she says, happened when a nocturnal visitor fled from her daughter Eve’s room. The defendant is Ruprecht, Eve’s fiancé – but he doggedly denies everything. An abstruse trial takes begins, and during its course, the truth is mangled by twisted words and attempts to hush it up. Reality, however, appears more and more similar to Judge Adam’s dream.

Heinrich von Kleist wrote this judiciary farce in the context of a writers’ competition in 1803. He takes an acutely satirical look at the fragility of a legal system whose codes of practice and well-defined terminology often only barely manage to keep in check its sinister opponents – self-interest, abuse of power and arbitrariness. In Kleist’s verbal cascades, alleged truths continue to shift until judges are turned into condemned and bailiffs become judges. But the jug – well, the irreplaceable jug remains irredeemably broken.

For Elsa-Sophie Jach, who staged the world premieres of E.L. Karhu’s “Für meinen Bruder” and “Niederwald” by Wolfram Höll at Diskothek, will give her debut on Schauspiel Leipzig’s Main Stage with “Der zerbrochne Krug (The Broken Jug)“. The production of Kleist’s “Käthchen von Heilbronn” which she created in Munich was shortlisted for the 2023 Berlin Theatertreffen.
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Premiere on 31.01.2025
Große Bühne

Dates

https://www.schauspiel-leipzig.de Schauspiel Leipzig Bosestraße 1, 04109 Leipzig
Fri, 31.01. 19:30
Premiere
Große Bühne
https://www.schauspiel-leipzig.de Schauspiel Leipzig Bosestraße 1, 04109 Leipzig
Sat, 08.02. 19:30
Große Bühne
https://www.schauspiel-leipzig.de Schauspiel Leipzig Bosestraße 1, 04109 Leipzig
Sun, 02.03. 19:30
Theatre day
Große Bühne
https://www.schauspiel-leipzig.de Schauspiel Leipzig Bosestraße 1, 04109 Leipzig
Wed, 12.03. 19:30
Große Bühne
https://www.schauspiel-leipzig.de Schauspiel Leipzig Bosestraße 1, 04109 Leipzig
Sun, 23.03. 19:30
Große Bühne

Cast

Anne Cathrin Buhtz as Councillor Walter
Denis Grafe as Village judge Adam
Denis Petković as Writer Licht
Sonja Isemer as Mrs Marthe Rull
Teresa Schergaut as Eve Rull
Niklas Wetzel as Ruprecht Tümpel
Paulina Bittner as Frau Brigitte

Live-Music - Violin

Teresa Allgaier

Live-Music - guitar

Steffi Narr

Live-Music - Percussion

Johannes von Buttlar

Team

Director: Elsa-Sophie Jach
Costume design: Johanna Stenzel
Music: Max Andrzejewski
Dramaturgy: Julia Buchberger
Theatre pedagogy: Amelie Gohla