Roland Schimmelpfennig

The conflict between the brothers Eteocles and Polyneikes is about the limits of diplomacy. After their father Oedipus blinds himself, they are entrusted with power. Polyneikes accuses his brother of not honouring the agreement on the annual change of government and threatens to take the city of Thebes in a war of aggression with the help of allies. Mother Iocasta forces the two to the negotiating table: speech before revenge. She appeals to human autonomy and the freedom of choice. But what if the subjective sense of justice and the law are not congruent, as in the case of Polyneikes, who sees himself cheated out of the throne? Diplomacy requires the ability to renounce. Yet the "unwillingness to give in" is symptomatic of Oedipus' family. Neither he nor his father Laios gave way when they faced each other at the crossroads. Eteocles does not relinquish his claim to power, nor does Polyneikes. And little Antigone will later insist on a proper first funeral for her brother, even under threat of death.
Iokaste is inspired by Euripides' adaptation of the myth under the title The Phoenissae and the tragedy Seven against Thebes by Aeschylus, which is around 60 years older. The text Iokaste turns the screw further into the here and now. Modern trouble spots cannot be extinguished by military intervention. Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022, this tale of murderous fratricidal conflict and the failure of diplomacy has become alarmingly topical. (Announcement Schauspielhaus Hamburg)