Geschichten aus dem Plänterwald

Music theatre of the ensemble leitundlause,
Neuköllner Oper, Berlin 2006

Only a few curves of the river Spree behind the Neue Mitte Berlin you can find the former amusement park “Spreewaldpark” in the Plänterwald forest. In “Geschichten vom Plänterwald”, this park with its rusty roller coaster, the leeking boats shaped like swans and the rotting stalls is brought back to life. The “brilliant failure” of the former operator Norbert Witte, his escape from the Berlin tax authorities, his dodgy business in Lima and finally his imprisonment for drug smuggling, are the scenes that form this Berlin fairy tale. The facts are interwoven with other textual contexts, performed, played and musically accompanied by five ticket vendors who are still selling tickets to enter this vision of Germany’s future-proof, healthy-shrinking economy. These five women are the theatrical-musical centre and the centre of all stories in the play. As vocal artists they sing a capella, and play with their instruments, using everything from a tuba to an egg cutter. The play shows the visions and thoughts of the five ticket sellers: from advertisment songs of the economic miracle to the Walkürenritt, German songs from East and West, foreign folklore, weird songs and pop songs.

Director: Matthias Rebstock
Musical director: Theo Nabicht
Stage/Costumes: Sabine Hilscher
Projections: David Reuter and Sabine Beyerle

With:
Claudia Herr, Sabine Hilscher, Irmtraud Horstkotte, Deborah Klein, Bärbel Schwarz, Lydia Starkulla and Mariel Supka