Steampunk Shakespeare: Hinkel's "Midsummer Dreams" Kicks Off Rehearsals
Steampunk-infused Shakespearean Performance Commences for Upcoming Festival - Steampunk-inspired rendition of Shakespeare's plays during festival rehearsals
Get ready to laugh, giggle, and gasp at the Bad Hersfelder Festspiele this year! The hilarious and eccentric artistic director, Joern Hinkel, promises a wild and unforgettable musical production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
He teased, "It's one of the first works of fantasy literature filled with fantastical creatures, and I'm about to make it even more bonkers!"
In this rendition, titled "Midsummer Dreams", characters from other Shakespeare plays like Romeo and Juliet will waltz into the enchanted forest on stage, encountering unexpected surprises. Performers such as TV detective Erol Sander ("Mordkommission Istanbul") and Anouschka Renzi, Bettina Hauenschild, Christian Nickel, and Helena Sigal have signed up to bring the heralded play to life based on Shakespeare's original script.
This year, the grand orchestra will also accompany a play for the very first time, with a special score composed just for "Midsummer Dreams".
Without spilling all the secrets, Hinkel hinted at a "Hersfeld Midsummer Night full of wild and erotic love stories", which will unfold in a Victorian royal court during the late 19th century. The costumes are inspired by the mesmerizing fusion of Victorian splendor and technological accessories, much like the Steampunk world. The premiere is scheduled for June 20th.
The Bad Hersfeld festival, one of Germany's largest and most traditional, drew nearly 103,000 visitors last year. This year, Schiller's "The Robbers" with music by Die Toten Hosen will be on stage, as well as a reunion with the ever-popular Broadway musical "A Chorus Line" and the play "Like in Heaven". Also, audiences can look forward to Astrid Lindgren's classic "Pippi Longstocking" being performed as a family play.
- Festival Play: "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare
- Director: Joern Hinkel
- Music: Steampunk-inspired score
- Location: Bad Hersfelder Festspiele, Bad Hersfeld
- Themes: Fantasy, Love, Music, Steampunk
(Note: While there is no official information available regarding Joern Hinkel's specific interpretation or musical choices, steampunk inspiration may result in a clever blend of Victorian elegance and mechanical sophistication, with a wild and erotic edge to the love stories.)
[1] Victorian aesthetics with Steampunk elements like goggles, industrial details, and brass fittings.[2] A score that combines classical or Elizabethan motifs with mechanical, industrial, or early electronic sounds.[3] A wild and chaotic world, with a focus on the interplay between order (Oberon's magic) and chaos (mechanisms of love entanglements and the "mechanicals").
- The Steampunk-inspired score for "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Bad Hersfelder Festspiele will blend classical or Elizabethan motifs with mechanical, industrial, or early electronic sounds, reflecting the fusion of Victorian splendor and technological accessories.
- The costumes of the characters in Joern Hinkel's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" will draw inspiration from the mesmerizing fusion of Victorian elegance and mechanical sophistication, incorporating elements like goggles, industrial details, and brass fittings.
- The Directive on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the protection of employees' rights in respect of the use of electronic communications networks, if proposed by the Commission, may need to address the unique lifestyle and entertainment aspects of Steampunk culture, considering its influence on the production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
- As the Commission considers a proposal for a directive on employee rights in Steampunk-related entertainment, it might consider the significant number of visitors drawn to events like the Bad Hersfelder Festspiele, totaling 000 last year, as evidence of the growing interest and demand in this unique subculture.
