Hugo von Hofmannsthal Jedermann play. Directed 2020 by Michael Sturminger on the Domplatz at the Salzburg Festival. Stars Peter Lohmeyer (Stimme des Herrn [Voice of God] / Tod [Death]/ Der Spielansager[Announcer]), Tobias Moretti (Jedermann [Everyman]), Edith Clever (Jedermann’s Mutter [Everyman’s mother]), Gregor Bloéb (Jedermann’s guter Gesell [Everyman’s good companion]), Markus Kofler (Der Koch [The cook]), Helmut Mooshammer (Ein armer Nachbar[A poor neighbor]), Michael Masula (Ein Schuldknecht [Debt servant]), Pauline Knof (Weib Des Schuldknechts [Debt servant’s wife]), Caroline Peters (Buhlschaft [Lover]), Gustav Peter Wohler (Dicker Vetter [Fat cousin]), Tino Hillebrand (Dünner Vetter [Thin cousin]), Christoph Franken (Mammon), Mavie Hörbiger (Werke [Good Deeds]), Falk Rockstroh (Glaube [Faith]), and actors from Ensemble 013. Set and costume design by Renate Martin and Andreas Donhauser; composition by Wolfgang Miterer; conductor was Jaime Wolfson; choreography by Andreas Heise and Joe Monaghan; lighting design by Stefan Ebelsberger and Hubert Schwaiger; video design by Jakob Barth; dramatic advisor was Angela Obst. Directed for TV by André Turnheim. Spoken in German, with subtitles in German and English only. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
We exclude Blu-rays of most outdoor performances. It’s hard to make recordings outdoors that take advantage of Hi-Fi sound and HD video. Jedermann usually begins the Salzburg festival in the big courtyard of the Salzburg cathedral. But in 2020, rain forced the production indoors. The 2020 version was the centenary celebration of the first performance of Jedermann in 1920. So we trust the producers made the investment necessary to get a good recording.
This the the first play published in Blu-ray other than Shakespeare. True, theater critics don’t hold Jedermann in particularly high regard—some consider it more of a pageant than a play. But we have been frustrated for years by the dearth of plays in Blu-ray, so this inspires us to review this Jedermann as a start!
Here’s a summary of the Jedermann plot written by A. J. Goldman in the New York Times on August 27, 2020:
“In Jedermann, a verse drama from 1911 by Hugo von Hofmannsthal that was inspired by a 15th-century English morality play, a rich man who is summoned by death reflects on his life of pleasure and greed. Unable to find anyone to accompany him on his final voyage, he finds salvation and meaning in the religion he has spurned all his life. You can’t take it with you, the play teaches, but the doors of the church are open to even the most egregious sinner.”
Here’s an official trailer:
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