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by Heinrich von Kleist, translated by Diana Stone Peters & Frederick G. Peters, directed by James Kudelka

Talk Is Free Theatre, Mady Centre, Barrie

January 29-February 7, 2015

“A Rare Chance to See a Masterpiece”

Prinz Friedrich von Homburg by Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811) is one of the great works of European drama that I was beginning to think I might never see on stage.  I had managed to see other plays by Kleist in Germany – his Amphitryon, Der zerbrochene Krug (The Broken Jug) and Das Käthchen von Heilbronn – but I missed the controversial production by the Donmar Warehouse in London (UK) of The Prince of Homburg in 2010.  In all my time in Canada I had never heard of any company staging a play by Kleist.  Imagine my surprise when the enterprising Talk is Free Theatre of Barrie announced that The Prince of Homburg would be part of its 2014/15 season. 

Famed choreographer James Kudelka makes his debut with this play as a director.  While the result may not be the quintessential production of the play, what is most important is that Kudelka understands the play and clearly communicates that understanding.  You emerge from the theatre bowled over by the greatness of the play and perplexed why such a play should have been so neglected in Canada until now.  You also feel extraordinarily lucky to have seen it. 

The period 1750-1850 is the high point of German literature, but, along with the Spanish Golden Age (1492-1681), it is one of the least explored areas of drama outside German- or Spanish-speaking countries respectively.  People know about Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), mostly because of his Faust (1808 & 1832) and theatres have recently rediscovered the plays of Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805).  Soulpepper staged Schiller’s Don Carlos (1787) in 1998 and his Mary Stuart (1800) in 2007, while the Stratford Festival has staged Mary Stuart twice in 1982 and 2013.  Soulpepper also staged Nathan the Wise (1779) by one of Goethe’s precursors, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-81), in 2004 and Stratford hosted a production of Lessing’s Emilia Galotti (1772) in 2008.  Yet, both classical theatre companies have neglected the work of Kleist, one of the period’s greatest dramatists.  The Festival Stratford did indeed stage Kleist’s comedy The Broken Jug directed by Michael Langham on tour in Ontario and New York way back in 1958, but, oddly enough, never performed it at Stratford.  That may have been the last production of a play by Kleist in Ontario until now.

The Prince of Homburg is set during the period of the Swedish-Brandenburg War of 1675-79.  Since the play focusses on moral and philosophical questions rather than historical ones, it is not necessary to know any details about this period except that Sweden was fighting to maintain and expand its colonies in Northern Germany under the command of Count Waldemar von Wrangel while the forces of Brandenburg, whose ruler was called an Elector, were striving to drive the Swedes out.  The war was decided at the Battle of Fehrbellin in 1675 when the Brandenburg troops of the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm repelled the Swedish troops under Wrangel.

The Battle of Fehrbellin, however, only provides Kleist with an example he uses to explore the topic of the individual versus the state – a topic as old as Sophocles’ Antigone, present the in history plays of Shakespeare and Pierre Corneille.  The Prince of Homburg, known for impulsiveness, is explicitly told along with the other commanders not to lead a charge until the signal is sounded.  Yet, in battle the Prince sees an opportunity arise to rout the Swedes, leads a charge before the signal is sounded and wins the battle.  The Prince is thus both the hero of the battle and a criminal for having disobeyed orders, an offense punishable by death. 

The dilemma facing the Elector (Wayne Best) is very similar to that of Creon in Antigone.  On the one hand he has sworn to uphold the laws of the state.  On the other, to uphold those laws in this case goes against the will of the people who support the Prince (Wade Bogert-O’Brien).  Meanwhile, the Prince, who was expecting acclaim after his victory is taken immediately to prison to await a court-martial.  The twist that takes Kleist’s play into different territory than its predecessors is that the Elector allows the Prince to make the decision concerning his own fate.  If the Prince believes that the Elector has not acted in accordance with the law, he will be free.  If he believes that the Elector has acted in accordance with the law, he will die.

Kudelka ratchets up the tension, especially in the second half, until it is almost unbearable.  You literary sit on the edge of your seat wondering how each new development will affect the outcome.  The Elector is perfectly right that chaos will result if all generals feel they can disobey their commands at will.  Yet, is punishing the victor of a battle to uphold the rule the law the best example of just authority?  Kleist gives the Prince a famous scene known as the Todesfurchtszene (“fear of death scene”) when the Prince, having just seen the grave that has been dug for him, begs for his life saying he is willing to give up everything he cherishes if only he can live.  This scene shows the instinctual, human side of the Prince, but as he contemplates the Elector’s proposition in prison he can only view his previous grovelling for life as ignoble.  As the action moves forward, you are torn, just as the Prince and the Elector are, between emotion and reason in choosing what the correct course should be.

As if these moral and political questions were not enough to consider, Kleist places the action within the context of the opposition of dreams versus reality.  The Prince is a sleepwalker and we first meet him when he is asleep and making a victory wreath.  The Prince’s best friend, Count Hohenzollern (Brad Hodder), who is rather like Horatio to the Prince’s Hamlet, discovers the Prince and leads the other members of the court to watch him and interpret his actions.  As a trick, the Elector inheres with the Prince’s actions to see what he will do. 

This initial scene informs the rest of the play because of two problems it raises.  The first is the difficulty of telling reality from illusion which in turn makes absolute judgements impossible.  The second, where Kleist anticipates Freud by about 100 years, is the conflict between the conscious mind and the subconscious will.  Both the Prince and the Elector endure this conflict.  The Elector is displeased with the Prince’s love for his niece Natalia (Katherine Cullen), whom he wishes to marry off to a Swedish noble to make peace.  Yet, he has to control this anger to insure that it does not taint his judgement of the Prince’s actions.

In The Prince of Homburg James Kudelka has chosen a very difficult play for his debut as a theatre director.  In watching the outcome it is clear that, in general, the more seasoned actors give more assured performances than the younger actors.  This is usually the sign that the play needs a stronger hand in charge, since veteran actors have a wider range of analogous characters to draw on than do younger ones. 

Wayne Best is excellent as the Elector.  His rigidity of speech and carriage shows the Elector as a man dedicated to law and order above all else.  Yet, Best is also able to suggests that the Elector has to work at maintaining this pose of rigidity in the face of his natural affection for the Prince and for all those who plead his case.  Best makes us see that there is a strong conflict between duty and desire in the Elector and we are anxious throughout the second act to see which of the two will triumph. 

Brian Tree, another veteran of the Stratford Festival like Best, gives a wonderful performance as the elderly Colonel Kottwitz, who, unlike the Elector, has enough experience to know when rules should be broken.  Kottwitz’s long speech demanding pardon for the Prince is the most powerful in the play and Tree delivers it beautifully and with great emotion. 

As Count Hohenzollern, Brad Hodder is one of the younger actors who fully succeeds in his role.  He is the rock of reason that the distraught Prince can depend on.  In his scene pleading for the Prince’s pardon with the Elector, we see how the Count has to force himself from his habitual manner of not making waves to utter the most drastic accusation against their ruler of anyone.

Katherine Cullen,who was so riveting in Vitals in Toronto last year, clearly needs stronger direction in her role as Natalia.  Her character is constantly called upon to present several layers of conflicting emotions, not all of which Cullen conveys.  Natalia knowingly flirts with her uncle the Elector, who seems to have more than an avuncular affection for her, but we have to be sure that she is doing so merely as a ploy. 

In other roles, Jean Yoon is well spoken, noble and very sympathetic as the Electress, who seems to languish in a world ruled by men.  Alex Poch-Goldin, who himself would make a fine Prince, turns in a forceful performance as the inflexible Field Marshall Dörfling.  A host of secondary characters have been shared among three actors of whom Brandon Crone makes the strongest impression.           

Nick Blais has designed a clever set that, perhaps symbolically, never leaves the surrounding tufts of wild plants of the initial sleepwalking scene.  He has created ramps that with slightly too much effort can be converted into tables and under his inventive lighting can become a castle entrance, a hillside or a prison cell.  Joe Pagnan’s handsome costumes look contemporary while still alluding to the 19th century.  John Gzowski’s sound design helps create the edgy atmosphere that permeates the work.  

If I lived in the Barrie area, I would make a point of seeing this production twice.  Not only is this a once in a lifetime chance to see a great play on stage, but the play itself is so rich that a second viewing is almost necessary to relish the interconnectedness of Kleist’s themes.  We owe Talk Is Free Theatre a great debt of thanks for taking the risk of presenting a play, so unjustly neglected in North America, and for giving it such a thoughtful production.  You will find yourself debating the issues the play raises long after it is over.  Don’t miss it.

©Christopher Hoile

Note: This review is a Stage Door exclusive.

Photos: Brandon Crone, Alex Poch-Goldin, Ryan Field, Brad Hodder and Wade Bogert-O’Brien; Ryan Field, Brandon Crone, Brad Hodder, Amir Haidar, Brian Tree, Wade Bogert-O’Brien and Wayne Best; Wade Bogert-O’Brien and Wayne Best. ©2015 Luca Ragogna.

For tickets, visit www.tift.ca.