Burgtheater Vienna

A Christmas present: Liliom’s tender elemental forces

Stefanie Reinsperger as Liliom and Maresi Riegner as Julie.(Bild: (c)Tommy Hetzel)

Acclaimed premiere of Franz Molnár's classic about a coach slinger: cheers for director Philipp Stölzl and Stefanie Reinsperger in the title role.

You couldn't face the challenges of the profession with more courage than the German director and set designer Philipp Stölzl in his due Burg debut. He smoothly takes the path back to the timeless virtues of the theater without giving the feuilleton bubble even a glance of fear!

The result is an evening full of poetry and warmth of heart, with a drastic wit indebted to "Kottan" and "Kaisermühlenblues", and yet a great, perfectly crafted tragedy of humanity.

The Austrian idiom is retained, but the translation by Terezía Mora is barely noticeable, rather than Polgar's classic. The only setting is the Gstettn von Bahndamm, where Liliom has run a knife into his body. He awakens under the supervision of two angels of death who command him back to the path of knowledge.

The powerful lighting and striking visual cues suffice for the changes of scene, and Stefanie Reinsperger shines above it all, performing an incredible degree of transformation and literally playing her heart out. This elemental force with the cobwebby soul costume is wonderfully contrasted by Maresi Riegner's delicate, lion-strong Julie.

Zeynep Buyrac, Stefko Hanushevski, Sebastian Wendelin, Norman Hacker and Tilman Tuppy as the angels, Robert Reinagl, Franziska Hackl, Dunja Sowinetz and Fabia Matuschek: nothing is missing from the impeccable ensemble. Only the final video would not have been missed.