Schauspielhaus Linz

David Bösch: Shakespeare at the boiling point

Thrilling fencing scene: Benedikt Steiner as Claudio, Daniel Klausner as Benedikt(Bild: Herwig PRAMMER)

The audience at the Linz State Theatre eagerly awaited the first production by the new drama director David Bösch. On Saturday, he introduced himself with the Shakespeare comedy "Much Ado About Nothing", and the production was a strong sign of a new start in this field.

The first person on stage is a clown (Christian Higer), he cracks raunchy jokes, but also has a completely different face: he is the gravedigger, the beneficiary of a war that is thundering or smouldering somewhere out there. And as the playmaker, he conjures up "La Guerre" at the beginning and end with the kind of smug tenderness that only befits a fool.