Der Parasit

A still from the Burgtheater production

A while ago, I saw a production at the Burgtheater of Schiller's comedy Der Parasit. The play is based on an older French play by some lesser-known named Picard - presumably not Jean-Luc - and is one of the few Lustspiele,i.e. comedies the very serious Herr Schiller wrote (or, in this case, stole and improved upon).

The theme of Der Parasit is very Moliere - very French, down to the names. The main character is a mid-level bureaucrat named Selicour who blackmails his way up the ranks, intending to get a fat cat job and then marry the daughter of the fat cat he replaces, Narbonne. I knew it reminded me of something about halfway into Act 2: why, Tartuffe, of course! The themes are identical: hypocracy, greed, corruption, con-artistry, lust for power, lust for some chick...the list goes on.

I am going to be honest. I am not a huge fan of the Burgtheater because I think they are a little low-brow. By that I mean everything becomes one big sexual innuendo. I did not like how slapstick and crude the characters were - there's more to comedy than a kick in the balls or something flying down a buxom lady's dress front. But, considering it is the "People's Theater" refinement is not always at hand.

The best part is the ending, though. Unlike Tartuffe, Schiller puts in one of those ambiguous endings a la Clue where the possibilities, seemingly endless, are given: 1) Selicour is found out and punished; 2) Selicour is found out and no one cares; 4) Selicour is not found out and everyone's lives are ruined; 5) Selicour is not found out because he's clever enough to put the blame on someone else; 6) Selicour is found out by the only intelligent/sympathetic character, who is then not believed...

Schiller's point was that corruption is all around: who decides what is moral? Those in charge (of course), who are exempt from "normal" bourgeois views of right and wrong. Leaders especially can do whatever the hell they like, as they are doing it in the best interest of people who don't know any better - Schiller's lampooning of these sentiments, as well as implying they need to be changed (but who is going to be the first?) are perfectly within keeping of his normal rants under the title "tragedy." At least he finally got in a few laughs! I can only imagine: what if Schiller had devoted more time to parody and less time to bringing Classical back (like bringing sexy back, but with more Goethe)?

So, yeah, most of what I've seen at the Burgtheater I would consider marginal. (What else have I seen? A take on Shakespeare and a terrible translation of a little-known Tennessee Williams play, coming up) Most of the play was a snooze, but that's not to say I didn't get anything out of it! The staging of the final act was really excellent: the set had enough doors for each of the characters, and to signify each alternate ending, the players would walk in and out of the doors, repeat their lines with certain twists, so that the audience could ruminate and contemplate. Just my style.

All in all, I liked Der Parasit, and will say it again: I love Schiller, but damn, that dude was depressing!