»Viel Lärm um nichts« von William Shakespeare

In the organizer's words:

by William Shakespeare // Directed by Tina Lanik

The war is over. Don Pedro has won the conflict. Returning from the field, he stops off at the court of his governor, Leonato, accompanied by two officers. One of them, Claudio, immediately falls in love with Hero, Leonato's daughter. The other, Benedict, on the other hand, resumes the constant battle of words that binds him to Hero's cousin Beatrice: These two seem to enjoy nothing more than mocking each other with sharp tongues. A masked ball is celebrated at which Don Pedro asks for Hero's hand in marriage on Claudio's behalf. Benedikt and Beatrice are also finally to be paired off. Nothing seems to stand in the way of a double happy ending. But Don John, Pedro's bitterly evil half-brother, is decidedly opposed to all this romance. Together with his henchman Boracchio, he forges an intrigue that almost destroys all happiness.

Shakespeare's play about love in times of war is often celebrated as the first "romcom" in literary history. But the questions posed by the text are by no means easy to answer: Where does war end when peace begins? What (or who) do we love when we think we love? Tina Lanik presents the classic comedy as a play about love in threatening times.