"The Broken Jug"

Village judge Adam looks terrible when his court clerk Licht stops by in the morning. Two wounds on his head, an injury on his leg – where could he have gotten them? The judge knows how to eloquently justify the origin of his wounds. Village judge Adam looks terrible when his court clerk Licht stops by in the morning. Two wounds on his head, an injury on his leg – where could he have gotten them? The judge knows how to eloquently justify the origin of his wounds. Be that as it may. Licht has bad news. The court councilor Walter is on his way to their community to inspect the finances and improve the administration of justice in the countryside. His strict reputation precedes him. He has already suspended many a slacker in the judiciary elsewhere. Of all days, Judge Adam cannot find his wig today. And last night he was tormented by a dream in which he had to sit in judgment over himself. He would prefer to avoid today’s court day altogether. But court councilor Walter has already arrived, and the plaintiffs are already arguing loudly in the anteroom. Mrs. Marthe Rull is filing a complaint. A jug belonging to her daughter Eve has been broken. At night, a man sneaked into Eve’s room and broke the jug while fleeing out the window. For Marthe Rull, the case is clear: It was Ruprecht, her daughter’s fiancé, who wanted to taste the sweet fruits of love even before the marriage. Ruprecht, on the other hand, is beside himself with rage, denies the act, and accuses Eve of having let a strange man into her chamber. The young woman pleads with her fiancé to trust her. And Marthe Rull rants and raves like a fishwife. This chaos actually needs a firm judicial hand. But Judge Adam is visibly uncomfortable with the proceedings. He asks strange questions and draws absurd conclusions. Court councilor Walter cannot shake the impression that this Adam is more interested in obscuring the matters than in uncovering the mystery of the broken jug. How it ultimately gets revealed is an absurd spectacle. Heinrich von Kleist's "The Broken Jug" from 1808 is a milestone in German theater history. The comedy revolutionized the comedy of the early 19th century with its innovative structure, rapid dialogues, and double-entendre humor. Kleist's play uniquely combines tragic themes such as abuse of power and loss of trust in public institutions with linguistic wit and popular humor. From 1820 onwards, "The Broken Jug" stormed the theater stages. Today, the comedy about village judge Adam, who must sit in judgment over his own misdeeds, is one of the most frequently performed plays in the German-speaking world and, with its quirky characters drawn in a robust style, is a theatrical event on stage.