ANTHROPOLIS IV: Iokaste

In the organizer's words:

by Roland Schimmelpfennig / Aeschylus / Euripides
Director: Karin Beier

The conflict between the brothers Eteocles and Polyneikes is about the limits of diplomacy. After their father Oedipus blinds himself, they are entrusted with power. Polyneikes accuses his brother of not adhering to the agreement of the annual change of government and threatens to take the city of Thebes in a war of aggression with the help of allies. Mother Iocasta forces the two to the negotiating table: speech before revenge. She appeals to human autonomy and freedom of choice. But what if the subjective sense of justice and the law are not congruent, as in the case of Polyneikes, who sees himself cheated out of the throne? Diplomacy requires the ability to renounce. Yet this "unwillingness to give in" is symptomatic of Oedipus' family. Neither he nor his father Laius gave way when they faced each other at the crossroads. Eteocles is just as reluctant to give up his claim to power as Polyneikes. And little Antigone will later insist on a proper burial for her brother, even under threat of death.

Iocasta is inspired by Euripides' adaptation of the myth entitled The Phoenissae and the tragedy Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus, which is around 60 years older. The text "Iokaste" turns the screw further into the here and now. Modern trouble spots cannot be extinguished by military intervention. Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022, this tale of murderous fratricidal conflict and the failure of diplomacy has become alarmingly topical.

With: Paul Behren, Daniel Hoevels, Josefine Israel, Maximilian Scheidt, Ernst Stötzner, Julia Wieninger and Michael Wittenborn

Director: Karin Beier
Stage: Johannes Schütz
Costumes: Wicke Naujoks
Music: Jörg Gollasch
Lighting: Annette ter Meulen
Video: Voxi Bärenklau Voxi Bärenklau
Collaboration stage: Anna Wörl
Costume collaboration: Teresa Heiß
Dramaturgy: Sybille Meier

Further information: Iokaste | Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg