Abstract
Prince Leonce of the Kingdom of Popo and his friend Valerio are passionate about doing absolutely nothing. However, now of all times, King Peter intends to resign from his official duties. Prince Leonce should now accede to the throne and get married. In order to escape an arranged marriage with a princess he does not know, Leonce flees to Italy. The bride chosen for him, Princess Lena of the Kingdom of Pipi, also has no intention whatsoever of marrying a man she does not know, and escapes the royal marriage plans with her governess. The two meet en route – and fall in love. Ignorant of one another’s identity, they appear masked at the court of Leonce’s court and are married to each other. One cannot escape one’s predetermined fate…
Christian Spuck proves that a comedy about boredom can be anything but boring in his balletic interpretation, in which he transforms Georg Büchner’s sarcastic stage play into a subtle, fast-paced, robotic farce. Polkas and waltzes by the Strauss dynasty as well as contemporary music by Alfred Schnittke and Bernd Alois Zimmermann provide the soundtrack for the tragicomic story, and emphasise its satirical elements.