It’s court day in the village. Frau Marthe appears before Judge Adam, holding the shards of her broken jug. She accuses Ruprecht, her daughter Eve’s fiancé, of having entered into Eve’s chamber and broken the jug in the heat of passion. But Ruprecht vehemently denies everything. Eve remains silent – and Judge Adam appears to be unusually nervous. It’s a tricky case: Whoever broke the jug presumably assaulted Eve. Adam’s investigation, however, seems to be less intent on clearing up the events than on convicting someone – no matter who – as quickly as possible. When another witness shows up, Adam himself becomes suspect. And then Eve breaks her silence and Adam takes to his heels.
The characters in Kleist’s comedy struggle to find the truth, or at least what they think is the truth or what they want to turn into the truth. Their strategies are all too familiar: they denigrate the credibility of others and challenge verifiable evidence. The community’s foundations are crumbling, truth threatens to become a matter of perspective. Never before has so much information been available and never before has it been of so little value. Lisa Nielebock, born in 1978, is known for her analytical and emphatic theatre productions. She has been head of theatre directing at the Folkwang University of the Arts since 2014.