The historical context is Brussels in the middle of the 16th century. Count Egmont, the carefree, freedom-thirsty title character, whose life principle of tolerance finds great favour with the citizens, is actually an apolitical man. He is caught in the snares of politics when a rebellion against the Spanish regency begins to rage in the Dutch province and the Duke of Alba, at the head of the power system, fights back with ferocity. Alba fears Egmont's influence with the people and seeks means against him in political calculation. Egmont, whose power, contrary to that of the Duke of Alba, lies mainly in his winning personality, negates the burgeoning danger until it is too late. He must realize that his beloved people will not rebel for his life.
The controversy over the dialectic of domination and freedom between Egmont and Alba is continued beyond Egmont's death by Alba's young son Ferdinand, who, significantly, is a sincere admirer of Egmont. Thus Goethe once again interweaves the private with the political, presenting the statesmanlike conflict not only as one within the family but also as one of generations.
Director Johanna Wehner intercuts Goethe's classic text with fragments from Heiner Müller's "Leben Gundlings Friedrich von Preußen Lessings Schlaf Traum Schrei", sketching an image-rich arc through the cracks of history. Thus Müller allows dismantled figures of the classical dramatic canon as well as of German history to have their say in a great variation on freedom.
Text source and further event information:
http://www.staatstheater-wiesbaden.de/programm/spielplan/egmont-2016-2017/2856/
