Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (The Sorrows of Young Werther)

The word “I” could hang above the safety curtain in front of which Goethe’s young Werther talks of the pains of love which infect his soul. “I” is the first word with which Hans Löw in the title role walks on stage: an egomaniac Narcissus, a spoilt pleasure-seeker who throws himself into an unrequitable love with Fritzi Haberlandt’s Lotte as if it is a utopian self-realisation project. He almost makes Lotte’s boring fiancé (Ronald Kukulies) a realistic alternative. Pragmatism, self-pity and hubris – Jan Bosse has directed Goethe’s text as elegant pop literature which aims straight for the empty heart of the present. And is great, young actors’ theatre.