Bregenz An overlap between fiction and reality is due to coincidence, because on the evening of the premiere there was also a full moon outside when the moon appeared in the sky of the stage in the Vorarlberg State Theater to illuminate the path on which not only Leonce and Lena found each other, but also Valerio and the governess. Further correspondences testify to the strength of Georg Büchner’s comedy, which appeared in 1836 (it was not staged until decades later) and which fascinates us again and again because of the timeless validity of the author’s intensive preoccupation with the emotions of adolescents ( and rebellious) as well as the individual’s involvement in the prevailing political systems. In “Leonce und Lena” this also happens when a strikingly overdrawn rough framework overlaps with philosophical subtleties.
This is what director Milena Fischer focuses on in the production, with which the stage continues its Büchner series after “Woyzeck” and “Lenz”. “Leonce und Lena” is not bent into a variety with her, firstly she trusts the aesthetics of the Commedia dell’arte and its effect when it comes to sharpening political punchlines and secondly an ensemble that makes the text its own , that even with lively or concretely exaggerated play none of the many cynical remarks get lost or sink into mannerisms. Philipp Eckle proves to be a great partner with an outfit that makes do with a few movable podiums, flowers and the moon mentioned on the stage and that spans a virtuoso arc in the costumes from the Ancien Régime to the present day. The fact that Matthias Grote also arranged the corresponding musical numbers and can rely on the fact that the Landestheater has hired a few talented singers in the meantime gives the production a particularly compact character.
In order for the political satire and comedic romance to be experienced as a good mixture, concentrated action is required. Fischer lets the courtiers of subservience and selfishness dance through with Luzian Hirzel and David Kopp and suddenly breaks through these scenes, in which the characters act like dolls in a wound music box, in order to give room to the world view of the prince, whom Nico Raschner still feels melancholy as makes it so easy to grasp for the curious. Lena gets fewer opportunities for this, but Maria Lisa Huber gets everything out of the text material that is possible. Valerio (Sebastian Schulze) and the governess (Vivienne Causemann) know how to deal with sarcasm and the privilege of the complex characters. In the end – we know that the royal children take on roles that they didn’t want when they get married – the merry-go-round seems to run empty, on the other hand, the harsh tempo treatment in the text and the rapid decisions made by Leonce are excellently worked out. The fact that the director opted for a final glimmer of hope should have increased the jubilation at the premiere.
Other performances of “Leonce and Lena” by Georg Büchner at the Vorarlberger Landestheater in Bregenz from February 23 to March 1: landestheater.org