PRINZ FRIEDRICH VON HOMBURG

About the show

A human being is truly human only when dreaming. After three days on horseback and amidst military defeats, the Prince of Homburg dreams in the garden at night of immortal glory and great love. That dream seems not yet fully dreamt when, the following morning, he defies an order during battle, sounds the attack too early, and secures a decisive victory. Yet instead of being hailed as a hero, he is sentenced to death for insubordination. The Elector insists on a verdict strictly in accordance with the law—a law that must apply equally to all, even to dreamy princes. However, facing pressure from many quarters, he holds out the prospect of overturning the sentence should the Prince choose to contest it. The demands of military obedience compel an act of force that is nonetheless taken for granted as indispensable to a society based on rules: the condemned man confronts himself as judge and, in that capacity, finds he cannot do otherwise than uphold the verdict. Once the Prince has steeled himself to take this step and accepted his death, he is granted a pardon. He will have to live with the schism. He will never again be a whole person, a dreamer. But he will be an obedient soldier. Ulrich Rasche, a native of Bochum, has made an international name for himself with productions characterized by striking visual power, profound musicality, and an intense focus on linguistic clarity. He opens the new artistic directorship with Kleist’s play about the human cost of internal militarization and the totality of war.