Performing and adapting Shakespeare on the seventeenth-century German Wanderbühne 1 Kareen Seidler (Geneva) Companies of English players, the so-called “ English comedians ” , brought English plays to the Continent from the 1590s. They performed all over the German-speaking countries, with great success and in a large variety of venues, for the general public or at the service of a nobleman. Some of the Shakespearean playtexts that resulted from this theatrical hotbed are still extant. These texts are not translations but clearly adaptations, adjusted to the changing linguistic, theatrical, social and religious conditions. They are thus not primarily readerly works but rather by-products of stage-productions. 2 Like the early Shakespearean quartos - which recent scholarship has re-examined in a more benevolent light 3 - the German adaptations are thoroughly theatrical texts and should be analyzed as such. Nevertheless, these texts are often remarkably close to the Shakespearean originals. 4 This article first focuses on how the Shakespearean texts were adapted for the German Wanderbühne. The adaptations share a number of features, shaped by theatrical conventions and conditions; for instance, the adaptors shortened the plays, conveyed information visually and physically rather than verbally and elaborated the role of the clown. The second part of the article will stress the importance of the context of performance and show how it can help to better understand the playtexts. Both early modern and contemporary performances will be considered, mainly focusing on Romio und Julieta, an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. 5 To start with the main features of these adaptations: First and foremost, the early German Shakespeare adaptations were shorter than the Shakespearean originals. Like the early quartos, 6 their origins are more closely related to the stage than to the page; they are versions cut for performance. Another reason for shortening the plays was the language barrier. In fact, the English comedians first performed in English. 7 As a contemporary observer tells us, the Germans “ not vnderstanding a worde they sayde [. . .] flocked wonderfully to see their gesture and Action ” . 8 The German audiences were particularly impressed with the naturalistic 9 acting of the English which was entirely new to them. 10 Especially in the early days, the shows also included acrobatic feats, as well as music and dancing. The English comedians were thus “ all-round entertainers ” . 11 When such entertainers cut a play for performance, the first thing to go were probably monologues. I here assume that the playtexts were initially shortened, possibly, though not necessarily (only) due to the language constraints. Later, when Germanspeaking adaptors took over, new material was added. 12 Yet the initial cuts may still be visible in the extant German texts. In Der Bestrafte Brudermord (an adaptation of Hamlet), “ To be or not to be ” is thus neither “ the question ” (as in the Second Quarto, TLN 1710), nor “ the point ” (as in the First Quarto, CLN 836) but simply disappears. 13 In fact, this German Hamlet is stripped of all but one soliloquy. 14 Similarly, Romio und Julieta has no potion speech and no Queen Mab speech; many other monologues are also shortened or omitted. This shortening often streamlines the plot. For instance, in Romio und Julieta the first two scenes of Shakespeare's Act V (Romeo learns of Juliet's supposed death Forum Modernes Theater, 25/ 2 (2010), 195 - 204. Gunter Narr Verlag Tübingen and buys poison from the apothecary; Friar John tells Friar Laurence that his letter failed to reach Romeo) are wholly done away with. Whereas in Shakespeare, the Friar's letter, explaining the sleeping-potion plot, fails to reach Romeo, in Romio und Julieta, Romio does receive a letter from the Father (Shakespeare's Friar), but it merely asks him to hurry back: “ Hier bin ich angelangt, weil mir der Pater geschriben, ich soll so schnell alss es möglich alhier anlangen ” (V.iv, p. 397). 15 Romio thus only learns that Julieta is “ dead ” when he arrives at the monument. He goes on to kill himself with his dagger. This neatly disposes of the first two scenes of Act V. Alongside such changes, we find that events or actions which are narrated, summarized or alluded to in Shakespeare are often physically acted out in the plays of the Wanderbühne. One explanation might be the initial need to make things visible, to show the story to the audience. For example, in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, Aaron's first speech includes the following: AARON Away with slavish weeds and servile thoughts! I will be bright, and shine in pearl and gold To wait upon this new-made empress. To wait, said I? - to wanton with this queen [. . .] (II.i.18 - 21) 16 Whereas Aaron may be speaking metaphorically - “ away with slavish weeds ” - his German equivalent Morian quite literally takes off his old garment: MORIAN Lass mich auch nu diese alte Lumpen ablegen, weil ich sehe, dass meine heimliche Bulinne Gunst vnd Gnad beym Keyser hat. (Ziehet den alten Rock abe.) [. . .] so mache ich den Keyser warlich zum Hanrey (Tito Andronico, I, p. 167) 17 Aaron's transformation is thus made visible: Morian physically enacts it by removing his old coat, to show “ pearl and gold ” underneath. 18 The German text might also indicate early modern English stage practice. Jonathan Bate actually makes use of several stage directions from the German Titus in his edition of the Shakespearean play. 19 In a similar vein, what is alluded to in Shakespeare is often made explicit in the German plays. 20 For instance, in Romio und Julieta, we find that the adaptors have clarified a crux in the original. Shakespeare's texts never make Paris's presence at Capulet's feast explicit, although he has been invited (Q1 I.ii.13 - 16; Q2, I.ii.20 - 23). 21 In the German text, Paris is present at the Capulet feast, and he even addresses Julieta (II.iii, p. 335). 22 Romio und Julieta might therefore confirm that in early modern London, Paris was also onstage in this scene. Another common feature is comedy, an element that is of crucial importance for the strolling players' performances. It is mainly supplied by the omnipresent clown. 23 His importance could be accounted for by his mediating role between audience and actors: he was the first to speak German, usually in the pauses between acts. 24 In fact, “ Picklhäring ” was used as the generic designation for the clown. 25 The role was usually taken on by the Prinzipal (that is, the leader of the company), given its central importance. 26 The plays go out of their way to incorporate the clown into the plot. One of his main characteristics is a concern with his bodily needs and material things - food, 27 excrements, sex, and money. He often offers a comic parallel to the main plot. A related feature is the mixture of tragic and comic sequences. 28 In the Wanderbühne plays, most of the comic interludes in tragic or near-tragic moments are produced by the clown. A passage from Romio und Julieta can illustrate this point. Tipold (Tybalt) and Mercutius have just been killed. As in the 196 Kareen Seidler Shakespearean original, the tragic tension is at its height for the first time in the play. Tipold's corpse is lying on the empty stage, and in the German play, Picklhäring enters and deliberates: ietzt soll ich lauffen vnd sehen wass vor ein tumult auf der gassen. Aber wass ligt hier vor ein voller Nassküttl; potz schlapperment dass ist Tipold, blut er doch alss wie ein schwein, holla Tipold, ich befehle dir bey des Herzogs Vngnad, das du aufstehest vnd gehest mit mir, er will nicht andtwortten, ja er ist gahr todt, larmen larmen, Tipold ist todt gestochen, gestorben vnd lebt nicht mehr. (IV.ii, pp. 367, 369) 29 Though Picklhäring's disrespect in the face of death may seem alarming, the passage is not devoid of comedy. Picklhäring is also instrumental to the plot: he calls for the other characters to come on stage and discover the dead body. Other Wanderbühne clowns behave in a similar fashion when faced with a corpse: in Gottfridt von Boullion, Hanswurst finds the dead Gernard, accuses him of drinking too much, asks him to get up and finally realizes that he is dead. 30 Picklhäring further says that Tipold is “ bleeding like a pig ” - and in Papinianus, the clown Traraeus also compares a recently killed man to a bleeding pig, showing similar irreverence. 31 Asper actually lists “ interaction with the dead ” among the main characteristics of the English comedians' clown. 32 Another scene mixing tragic and comic elements can be found in both the English and the German version of Romeo and Juliet. Consider the following sequence from Romio und Julieta: Julieta, having taken the sleeping potion, has been discovered “ dead ” . The Nurse brings the news: “ Ach gnädige Fraw was Vnglikh! Julieta ligt in Jhrer besten Kleitung aussgestreket vnd todt ” . Whereupon Picklhäring retorts: Das ist erstunkhen vnd erlogen, weil sie aussgestreckt ligt, so muess ich gehen vnd sehen was ihr schadt, dan ich verstehe mich tröfflich auf die aussgestrekte Krankheiten. Then, he confirms that she is indeed “ dead ” : O Ellend, o noth, o barmbhertzigkeit, o mausericordia, Julieta hat sich zu todt gestorben, o erschröckliche bost Zeitung, sie ligt auss gestreckt mit Händt vndt Füessen, vnd ist so steuff alss ein gefrohrner Stockhfisch. Yet when Julieta's father arrives on the scene and all start lamenting, the clown asks: “ Ist dan das so grosse sach, das ein Mahl ein Mensch stirbt[? ] ” . 33 These antics are similar to Picklhäring's joking about the dead Tipold. However, the audience is here aware that Julieta is not actually dead. This dramatic irony is also found in Shakespeare, where (especially in the First Quarto) the family joins in choruslike wailing, which, according to some critics, is “ purposeful comedy ” . 34 Here and elsewhere, Romio und Julieta thus brings out the underlying comic element in Romeo and Juliet and thereby makes a contribution to the play's ambivalent place between tragedy and comedy. 35 Nineteenth-century scholars frowned upon the scenes involving Picklhäring which they considered as “ utterly devoid of taste ” . 36 The comic elements in the Wanderbühne plays might be qualified as more farcical than their English originals. Yet the laughter of twenty-first-century audiences in similar situations should be taken into account when derogative remarks are made about the taste (or rather the supposed lack thereof ) of seventeenth-century German spectators. For instance in The First Part of Henry IV, Falstaff encounters Blunt's corpse on stage and comments: Soft! who are you? - Sir Walter Blunt. There's honour for you! Here's no vanity! God keep 197 Performing and adapting Shakespeare on the seventeenth-century German Wanderbühne lead out of me; I need no more weight than mine own bowels [. . .] I like not such grinning honour as Sir Walter hath. (V.iii.32 - 35, 58 - 59) In a recent Royal Shakespeare Company production 37 much was made of Falstaff 's discovery of and interaction with the dead body, at which the audience laughed heartily. Of course, Falstaff here also contributes to the play's profound interrogation of the concept of honor. Yet this scene and the laughter it can produce can be likened to the early German plays. Unfortunately, hardly any descriptions of early modern performances on the German Wanderbühne have survived. Yet, “ Cardinal Arno š t Harrach is known to have enjoyed a Romeo and Juliet play in Prague in 1658 ” , and according to him “ the Pickelhäring of the company [. . .] was ‘ very good and funny ’” . 38 This again underlines the importance of the clown in the seventeenth century, but does not provide details about performance practice. Another description, from a performance in Bevern on 27 August 1680, is extant: 39 Vmb 2 Uhr ward die schöne Tragoedia: Romio vnd Juliette oder der Streit zwischen den Montagesern vnd Cappalitaneren agiret. Der Prinzipal war Romio, hat vnseren ihm geschenckten Rock mit den Silbern spitzen an. Die meisten brachten sich selbst umb, Juliette war in ein Monument gelegt, als wann sie tod wehre, hatte aber nur einen schlafftrunck bekommen, erwachet wie sie siehet, ihr beede Liebste Romio vnd Caletto sich selbst erstochen, ersticht sie sich auch. 40 The described performance took place only eight years before the probable date of the manuscript of Romio und Julieta (1688), 41 but the details of this description do not entirely agree with the known playtext. In the extant text, there are three murders and two suicides, so “ most of them ” did not “ kil[l] themselves ” . Also, the name “ Caletto ” does not appear in the extant manuscript of Romio und Julieta; this may have been Paris's family name in this version of the play. Although there is precious little evidence about early modern performances, the German adaptations have again been put on stage in the last few decades. Of course, there are differences between the behavior of contemporary audiences and that of early modern ones. Yet since the plays are theatrical in nature, it is on stage that they reveal their essence. 42 The problems that a text might pose can often be resolved in performance - or a performance can give the issue a different angle. For instance, the particular importance of the mixture of comedy and tragedy in a foreign language performance context is explained by Christine Schmidle, who directed Der Bestrafte Brudermord, performed by Anglophone actors in German for an Anglophone audience: 43 the comic scenes became the connection between audience and actors, [linking them to] the serious and more important scenes [. . .] audience members could never stop following the story because the play is interrupted by comic scenes often enough to make a serious scene in a foreign language fascinating enough to keep watching. 44 For this production, which reconstructed the performance conditions of the Wanderbühne to a certain extent, the alternation of tragic and comic sequences was thus vital. The production showed the reactions of an audience who did not understand the language which the actors spoke on stage. However, it must be noted that this only partly captures the context in which Der Bestrafte Brudermord was performed. In fact, the language barrier between German audience and English-speaking actors slowly disappeared around 1600, when the players started to perform in German. 45 Yet the extant text of 198 Kareen Seidler Der Bestrafte Brudermord has been dated to the end of the seventeenth century, so it can only partly be related to performances involving a language barrier between audience and actors. 46 Setting these reservations aside, Schmidle's production also helped to shed light on a different problem for contemporary audiences and critics, namely the sense of parody. To illustrate this, some more detailed background information is requisite. Near the end of Der Bestrafte Brudermord, the Queen has drunk the poison, the King laments this unfortunate error in an aside and the text continues as follows: KÖNIGIN O wehe, ich sterbe! Der König stehet vor der Königin. 47 HAMLET Und Du, Tyranne, sollst sie in dem Tode begleiten. ersticht ihm von hinten zu. KÖNIG O wehe, ich empfange meinen bösen Lohn! LEONHARUDS Adieu, Prinz Hamlet! Adieu, Welt! ich sterbe auch. Ach verzeihet mir, Prinz! (V.vi, p. 301). 48 Was this meant to be funny? In a recent performance of the play in German before a German audience, 49 Leonhardus's (Laertes) lines were actually changed, from “ ich sterbe auch ” to “ ich sterbe ” . Nevertheless, laughs accompanied this quick succession of deaths. Modern audiences (who understand the text) are inclined to laugh at this because they see it as a parody of a great Shakespearean tragedy. They know the “ real ” Hamlet and this passage seems to ridicule it. But it is highly unlikely that the people who produced this text were aiming at a parodic effect. The seventeenth-century German audiences would not have known the original, only the adaptation. The English comedians used “ the most popular plays of the London stage, not because their [German] audiences were eager to see the triumphs of the London theatre [. . .] but because they were good plots that were adaptable and effective ” . 50 Parody was not intended; after all, “ to ironize the plot or to disillusion the audience ” was not common in this age and on this stage. 51 However, Schmidle's production of the play showed that the sense of parody gets lost in translation. During this performance, where the audience did not understand the text, the passage cited above was taken in absolute earnest. The audience perceived the scene as tragic; no one laughed. This implies that the language constellation between audience and actors/ playtext should be taken into account when analyzing these plays. 52 A recent staged reading of Romio und Julieta also contributed to a better understanding of the playtext. It was directed by Simon Godwin; the cast was made up of students; the performance was in English and before an English-speaking audience, consisting of students and interested members of the general public. 53 Despite its sometimes awkward language the play proved entirely stageable in a modern context and often extremely funny. Along with the subsequent discussions with actors and audience, the staged reading led to a deeper understanding of and a more straightforward approach to the play. For instance, during rehearsal, the actors first found the tragic ending - which is as melodramatic as that of Der Bestrafte Brudermord - hilarious. After an initial reading, however, the actor playing Capulet (who spoke most of the lines in the final scene) suggested to “ do this differently ” . He changed from boisterous, pompous and loud declamation to near-whisper, filled with heavy sadness. The result was strikingly different. The parody turned into something that could be interpreted as tragic. Also, “ awkward ” language can be transformed to make perfect sense in perfor- 199 Performing and adapting Shakespeare on the seventeenth-century German Wanderbühne mance. Consider the following exchange: Julieta's Nurse has just learned who the stranger was that Julieta met at her father's feast. She communicates this news: AMMA Schöne Julieta, es wahr der Junge Romio. JULIETA Wie der Junge Romio? AMMA Ja der Junge Romio. (II.iii, p. 337) 54 While these lines may seem somewhat unimaginative, this was altered in the staged reading, where Julieta placed the emphasis on “ the ” ( “ der ” ). Amma's somewhat exasperated reply - “ Yes, the young Romio ” - produced laughter from the audience. A similar repetition of words was also turned into an advantage. Once the Nurse has delivered the message from Julieta to Romio and requested his presence, Romio answers: “ Geliebte Fraw, ich werde mich gehorsamb einfinden, vnd gehorsamb aufwarthen ” (III.vi, p. 353). 55 In the staged reading, Romio paused before the second “ gehorsamb ” ( “ obediently ” ), as if he was trying but failing to find a different word. A performance thus permits to navigate around passages that may seem awkward or nonsensical on the page. Another sequence that worked well in the staged reading is unique to the German version, namely Romio's serenading Julieta under her window. The song is not sung by Romio but by the “ boy ” ( “ Jung ” ) accompanying him. In the staged reading, Romio was mouthing the words along with the boy, suggesting that he had written the verses himself. Picklhäring took on the boy's role, reciting the song while standing on a ladder, to the tunes of a harmonica. The ladder was used for much comic business, Romio first urging Picklhäring up the ladder, then dragging him down again once the song was finished. Interestingly, a ladder is used for very similar purposes in Des Harlequins Hochzeit-Schmauß, where the lover “ leans a ladder onto the chamber window and sings the following song ” . 56 One instance in Romio und Julieta presents a scene which ends with Julieta's exit; the next scene beginning with her re-entry - a potentially challenging moment according to modern staging conventions. Capolet has just officially given Julieta's hand to Paris and her father asks her to follow him. In the next scene, Julieta enters together with Romio and the Father, who proceeds to wed them in secret: CAPOLET [. . .] So Adie Tochter Julieta, folge mir vnd erfrewe deine fraw Muetter. (abit.) JULIETA Ich folge Herr Vatter. (abit). [III.x] PATER ROMIO. JULIETA. PATER Kommet herr meine Kinder, [. . .] (III.ix and III.x, p. 361) 57 The staged reading, with its quick scene changes, 58 turned the potential problem of Julieta's exit and immediate re-entry in a different location into a virtue. Her disobedience was emphasized visually: after having pronounced her last line, she started to follow Capolet, who had just exited stage left; a triangle sounded; Julieta whirled around and rushed to embrace Romio who came running towards her from stage right. The Father then interrupted their embrace with his first line. Merely on the basis of the text and without any reference to performance, Anna Baesecke already praised how the two scenes are strung together “ with real theatrical contrast ” . 59 To name but one final instance where a (modern) performance can help to elucidate the playtext: upon taking leave from Romio in the so-called “ balcony scene ” , 60 Julieta says: “ Nehmet hin Romio dises von mir, vnd morgen vmb 9 Vhr will ich euch meine meinung wissen lassen ” (II.v, p. 343). 61 200 Kareen Seidler “ Dises ” ( “ this ” ) might refer to a love token of some kind. In the staged reading, however, Julieta simply blew Romio a kiss, a straightforward stage solution to an ambiguous passage on the page. According to Adolf Scherl, Romio und Julieta “ is a text which serves a purpose, serving the theatre, based not on the literary qualities of the text but rather on the effectiveness of the stage action ” . 62 This also applies to other seventeenth-century German Shakespeare adaptations. As I hope to have shown, this certainly needs to be taken into account when analyzing the plays. By putting the German Romeo and Juliet and its peers back on stage, many of the instances that may initially seem puzzling on the page turn out to make perfect sense in performance. Notes 1 Earlier versions of parts of this article were given as papers at the conference “ Local/ Global Shakespeares ” of the British Shakespeare Association in London (2009), and at the conference “ Shakespeare and Conflict: A European Perspective ” of the European Shakespeare Research Association in Pisa (2009). 2 According to Ralf Haekel, the quality of these plays precisely lies not in their literary, but in their performative dimension (Haekel, Ralf. Die Englischen Komödianten in Deutschland: Eine Einführung in die Ursprünge des Deutschen Berufsschauspiels. Heidelberg, 2004, 79). 3 See, for instance, Erne, Lukas. Shakespeare as Literary Dramatist. Cambridge, 2003; Ioppolo, Grace, Revising Shakespeare. Cambridge, Mass., 1991; Irace, Kathleen O. Reforming the “ Bad ” Quartos: Performance and Provenance of Six Shakespearean First Editions. Newark, Del., 1994; Maguire, Laurie E. Shakespearean Suspect Texts: the “ Bad ” Quartos and their Contexts. Cambridge, 1996; Taylor, Gary/ Stanley Wells, ed. The Division of the Kingdoms: Shakespeare's Two Versions of King Lear. Oxford, 1983; Urkowitz, Stephen. “ Good news about ‘ bad ’ quartos. ” “ Bad ” Shakespeare: Revaluations of the Shakespeare Canon. Ed. Maurice Charney. Rutherford, N. J., 1988, 189 - 206. 4 How exactly these early German Shakespeare adaptations came into being is still a matter of contention. An explanation like the following might be given: when the English players travelled to the Continent, they brought with them English plays (Shakespeare's among them), in print, in manuscript, in their memories or in a combination of several of these. Over the years, they then proceeded to adapt the plays to their current staging needs (and possibilities), as well as to the political and/ or religious context they were performing in. 5 Regarding the problematic of analyzing early modern plays within the context of contemporary performances, see page 84 of this article. 6 See Erne 2003, 23. 7 Also, they possibly only performed extracts of plays (Asper, Helmut G. Hanswurst: Studien zum Lustigmacher auf der Berufsschauspielerbühne in Deutschland im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert. Emsdetten, 1980, 328; Hughes, Charles, ed. Shakespeare's Europe: Unpublished Chapters of Fynes Morysons's Itinerary: Being a Survey of the Condition of Europe at the end of the 16th Century. London, 1903, 304.) Around 1600, the English Comedians started to perform in German (see also note 45). 8 Fynes Moryson in Hughes 1903, 304. 9 One spectator actually uses the word “ naturel ” ( “ natural ” ) to describe a performance, namely the “ roasting ” of Aaron in a version of Titus Andronicus (Flemming, Willi, ed. Das Schauspiel der Wanderbühne. Leipzig, 1931, 25). 10 Baesecke, Anna. Das Schauspiel der englischen Komödianten in Deutschland: Seine dramatische Form und seine Entwicklung. Halle, 1935, 11. “ [T]he English actors introduced a liveliness of expression, a vividness in gesture and spontaneity in performance ” (Williams, Simon. Shakespeare on the Ger- 201 Performing and adapting Shakespeare on the seventeenth-century German Wanderbühne man Stage. II: 1586 - 1914. Cambridge, 1990, 45). 11 Brandt, George W./ Hogendoorn, Wiebe. Theatre in Europe: A Documentary History: German and Dutch Theatre, 1600 - 1848. Cambridge, 1993, 46. 12 The surviving playtexts seem to confirm this. Romio und Julieta and Der Bestrafte Brudermord are stripped of nearly all Shakespearean monologues, but new material has been added, such as, for instance Der Bestrafte Brudermord's prologue or Romio und Julieta's I.ii, where Julieta and Antoneta (a Nurse figure) are introduced in the poetic setting of a garden. Similarly, Kunst über alle Künste ein bös Weib gut zu machen (an adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew) has been fleshed out with numerous German allusions and comic passages. 13 All references to Hamlet are to Kliman, Bernice W./ Bertram, Paul, ed. The Three-Text Hamlet: Parallel Texts of the First and Second Quarto and First Folio. New York, 1991. I follow them in using TLN (Through Line Numbering) for the Second Quarto (Q2) and the Folio (F), and CLN (Consecutive Line Numbering) for the First Quarto (Q1). 14 Namely, “ Now might I doe it ” (III.iii, Q2, TLN 2350); the equivalent speech can be found in III.ii of Der Bestrafte Brudermord (Cohn, Albert. Shakespeare in Germany in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: An Account of English Actors in Germany and the Netherlands and of the Plays Performed by them during the same Period. Reprint, New York, 1971, 273.) All references to Der Bestrafte Brudermord, Tito Andronico and Romio und Julieta are to Cohn. The act and scene reference is followed by the page number; a translation is provided in the footnotes. Unless otherwise noted, the translations are by Lothar Bucher, Georgina Archer and Moritz Lippner, all printed in Cohn. Although Cohn gives the play the title “ Romio und Julietta ” , the extant manuscript (and Cohn's text) consistently use “ Julieta ” in the playtext. I therefore adopt this spelling. 15 “ Here I am, because the friar wrote to me to come as quickly as possible ” (p. 398). 16 Unless otherwise noted, all references to Shakespeare's plays are to Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works. Ed. Stanley Wells/ Gary Taylor. Oxford, 1988. 17 “ Let me now put off these old rags, as I see that my secret mistress has the good favour of the Emperor. (Takes off the old mantle) [. . .] I vow I will make a cuckold of the Emperor. ” (168). 18 The opening stage direction of Act I tells us that Morian is wearing a “ plain black garment over his splendid clothes ” (my translation, “ Morian, welcher schwartz vnd geringe Gewandt vber seine prechtige Kleider gezogen ” [I, 161]). 19 See William Shakespeare. Titus Andronicus. Ed. Jonathan Bate. London, 2006, 44 - 48. 20 Another major change is the often simpler, more straightforward or less literary language in the German adaptations. It could be traced back to a moment in time when someone did not speak or understand enough German or English - be it the audience, the actors or the adaptors or writers. A development can be seen here, from early adaptations, such as Tito Andronico, to later plays, such as Romio und Julieta, which contain verse passages (usually reserved for solemn occasions). 21 All references to Romeo and Juliet are to Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. Jill L. Levenson. Oxford, 2000. 22 This goes hand in hand with his pronounced presence throughout the play. Unlike in Shakespeare, he also figures on the list of guests to be invited, so that his importance is again emphasized (I.iv, 327). The final and most striking instance of this phenomenon is that he is buried in one grave with Julieta at the end of the play (V.iv, 406). 23 The term “ clown ” is here used in its Shakespearean sense. 24 Asper 1980, 26. 25 Romio und Julieta's manuscript confirms this: it uses italics for the names of all characters with the exception of Picklhäring. 26 Newald, Richard. Die Deutsche Literatur: Vom Späthumanismus zur Empfindsamkeit: 1570 - 1750. München, 1963, 83. Newald postulates that the clown's role was usually 202 Kareen Seidler molded onto the Prinzipal - Duke Heinrich Julius of Brunswick thus seems to have written parts specifically for Thomas Sackville. Flemming believes that the Prinzipal took on the role of the clown precisely because it was a minor, ancillary part which would facilitate his “ management of the whole ” ( “ Leitung des Ganzen ” [Flemming 1931, 19]). All translations of secondary sources are my own. 27 Throughout Romio und Julieta, Picklhäring is associated with food and with the kitchen. He shares this with the clown of the commedia dell'arte who is also constantly hungry. Picklhäring is not the only clown to have a food-related name; Jean Potage and Hans Stockfisch were also popular. 28 However, this was not confined to the German Wanderbühne plays; in fact, the “ easy co-existence of comedy and tragedy in Shakespeare's plays ” has often been pointed out (Aebischer, Pascale. Shakespeare's Violated Bodies: Stage and Screen Performance. Cambridge, 2004, 81). 29 “ Now I am bid to run and see what is the tumult in the street. But look what a plastered drunkard is lying here? Zounds, it is Tipold, bleeding like a pig. Hollah, Tipold, by the Duke's displeasure I command thee to get up and go with me. He won't answer; dear me, he is dead! Alarm, alarm! Tipold is stabbed to death, is killed, and lives no more! ” (Adapted from Cohn 1971, 368, 370). 30 II.i, fol. 7 v, “ H[ans] Wurst fält über den todten Gernard sagt er habe . . . [sich] voll gesoffen, er soll zu seinen volk gehen, [. . .] erbliket das er todt ist visitiret ihn ” . 31 II.viii in Flemming 1931, 160, “ liegt er doch da, und blutet wie ein schwein ” . 32 “ Umgang mit [. . .] Toten ” (Asper 1980, 192). 33 V.iii, 391, 393. “ AMMA. [. . .] what a disaster! Julieta lies here dressed out in her best, stretched out, and dead./ PICKL. You lie in your throat! As she is stretched out, I must go and see what is the matter with her; I thoroughly understand stretched-out illnesses. [. . .] Oh misery, oh distress, oh pity, oh mousericordia! Julieta has died herself to death. Oh dreadful news! [. . .] There she lies, hands and feet stretched out, and as stiff as a frozen stockfish. [. . .] Is it such a great thing that some one dies? ” (Adapted from Cohn 1971, 392, 394). 34 Lower cited in Levenson 2000, 322. 35 According to some critics who support the view that Shakespeare first wrote Romeo and Juliet and then A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare may have been commenting on Romeo and Juliet's comic potential in the Pyramus and Thisbe sequence. Shakespeare's tragedy heightens the comic element with the musicians-episode which follows this scene. 36 Cohn 1971, CXXIV. Eduard Devrient shows similar contempt. According to him, “ these are the criteria according to which we are to measure the German taste of the seventeenth century ” ( “ nach diesem Maaßstabe haben wir den deutschen Geschmack des siebzehnten Jahrhunderts zu messen ” [Devrient, Eduard. Geschichte der Deutschen Schauspielkunst. Vol. II. Leipzig, 1848, 190]). 37 Directed by Michael Boyd, Stratford-upon- Avon, 28 February 2008. 38 Scherl, Adolf. “ Romeo a Julie z ji ž ních Č ech. ” Divadelní revue 12 (2001): 69 - 70; 69. My thanks go to Pavel Drábek who drew my attention to this article and kindly translated it for me. 39 Asper, Helmut G. Spieltexte der Wanderbühne: Ein Verzeichnis der Dramenmanuskripte des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts in Wiener Bibliotheken. Wien, 1975, 45. 40 “ At two o'clock the beautiful tragedy: Romio and Juliette or the fight between the Montaguese and the Cappalitanes was acted. The Prinzipal was Romio; he wore the coat we gave him, with the silver points. Most of them killed themselves, Juliette was laid into a monument, as if she were dead, but [she] had only received a sleeping potion, [she] wakes up[,] as she sees that her two lovers Romio and Caletto have stabbed themselves she also stabs herself ” (Herzog Ferdinand Albrecht, in Asper 1975, 45). 41 See Scherl 2001, 69. 42 Christine Schmidle seconds this: Der Bestrafte Brudermord “ has so many theatrical, physical elements that make it interesting on stage ” (private communication, July 2010). 203 Performing and adapting Shakespeare on the seventeenth-century German Wanderbühne 43 At the Blackfriars Playhouse (American Shakespeare Center), Staunton (Virginia), 18 and 19 January 2010. My thanks go to Christine Schmidle for providing me with material about this production. 44 Private communication, July 2010. 45 After 1605, no performances in English are recorded (Creizenach, Wilhelm. Die Schauspiele der Englischen Komödianten. Reprint, Darmstadt, 1967, XXVI), but in 1610 the English actors' proficiency in German was still criticized (see Meissner, Johannes. Englische Comödianten zur Zeit Shakespeares in Österreich. Wien, 1884, 6). 46 The assumption being that parts of the extant text can be traced back to the beginning of the seventeenth century. Hamlet was printed in 1603 and 1604/ 05, although Shakespeare is thought to have written some version of the play around 1600. 47 The King presumably positions himself in front of the Queen to hide her dead body. 48 “ QUEEN. Alas! I die! / The King stands before the Queen./ HAMLET. And thou, tyrant, shalt bear her company in death./ Stabs him from behind./ KING. Alas! Alas! I receive my due recompense! / LEON. Farewell, Prince Hamlet! Farewell, world! I die too. Ah, forgive me, Prince! ” (Adapted from Cohn 1971, 302). 49 Directed by Daniel Steinbach, Theatralia, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 13 January 2007. This was a student production; the audience consisted of the general public. 50 Holland, Peter. “ Shakespeare abbreviated. ” The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Popular Culture. Ed. Robert Shaughnessy. Cambridge, 2007, 26 - 45; 31. 51 “ Die Handlung zu ironisieren und das Publikum zu desillusionieren liegt [. . .] der ganzen Epoche durchaus fern ” (Flemming 1931, 27). The only character to occasionally break the illusion, by commenting on the action or by directly addressing the audience, was the clown. 52 “ Performing the play in a different language takes away a lot of funny moments that scholars frown upon ” (Schmidle, private communication, July 2010). 53 Judith E. Wilson Drama Studio, University of Cambridge, 13 February 2008. The reading was organized by Abigail Rokison and myself, in the context of the Graduate Drama Seminar at the English Faculty of the University of Cambridge. Lothar Bucher's translation was used, with some minor adjustments. 54 “ AMMA. Fair Julieta, it was the young Romio./ JULIETA. What, the young Romio? / AMMA. Yes, the young Romeo ” (Adapted from Cohn 1971, 338). 55 “ My dear madam, I shall come obediently and wait upon you obediently ” (354). In the English translation, where “ obediently ” is the last word of the sentence, and therefore allows for a pause preceding it, the comic effect was even greater than in the German original. 56 My translation. “ Er lehnet die Leiter an das Cammer-Fenster/ und singet folgendes Lied ” (Ketelsen, Uwe-K., ed. Komödien des Barock. Hamburg, 1970, 206). Tymbor in Comedia von der Schönen Phänicia also has musicians serenade Phänicia in order to win her over (Act II, in Tieck, Ludewig, ed. Deutsches Theater. Berlin, 1817. Vol. I, 268, and 270 - 271). 57 “ CAPUL. Julieta, follow me and gladden the heart of thy mother. (exit.)/ JULIETA. I follow father. (exit.)/ [III.x] FATHER. ROMIO. JULIETA./ FATHER Come here, my children [. . .] ” (adapted from Cohn 1971, 362). 58 The director noted the “ breathlessness ” the text produced in production. This impression was seconded by the actors, especially by those portraying the protagonists (discussion following the staged reading, 13 February 2008). 59 “ [m]it echt theatralischer Kontrastierung ” (59). 60 The designation “ balcony scene ” needs to be qualified because the early printed texts do not mention a balcony. Juliet merely appears at a “ window ” (Q1, II.i.44; Q2, II.i.45). 61 “ Take this, Romio, from me, and to-morrow at nine o'clock I will let you know my mind ” (adapted from Cohn 1971, 344). 62 Scherl 2001, 69. 204 Kareen Seidler