Scenic-musical evening about the most famous witch trial in Pomerania
The Pomeranian noblewoman Sidonia von Borcke (1548-1620) is considered the most famous person to have been executed as a witch in what is now Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Her case left behind a bundle of more than a thousand pages of trial records, which still provide a deep insight into Sidonia's problematic biography and controversial personality. At the same time, they bear witness to the social and legal structures of her time.
The early modern period was characterized by social and religious upheaval, but also by general impoverishment caused by long periods of cold weather, poor harvests and wars. An atmosphere of fear and insecurity led to the search for culprits, which often took the form of mutual denunciation between neighbors and within families. The victims were mostly women, whose rights were severely restricted in the patriarchal system. It is therefore fair to say that Sidonia von Borke, who came from an old Pomeranian noble family, was a victim of her male family members.
Sidonia's fate, which ended at the stake at the gates of Szczecin in 1620, has been a source of excitement and unbroken interest among artists, descendants and historians ever since. To this day, it has spawned various novels, plays, portraits and historical treatises. The interpretations of her personality range from innocent and noble to sophisticated and haughty, from pitiful to despicable. But who was this legendary woman, who was posthumously blamed for the radical extinction of the Pomeranian dynasty, really?
Our evening spans the gap between the historical sources of the trial records and the imaginative elaborations of literary posterity. Actress Katja Klemt in the role of Sidonia's revenant is confronted with both and lends her distinctive voice to the texts. Through an impressive combination of acting, reading, music and historical sources, she, together with musician Benjamin Saupe and Robert Meyer on the theremin, transports the audience into a world full of magical tension, extreme emotions and new insights.
