Since the first performance on November 26th in Zwickau’s Gewandhaus, around 3000 children and adults have seen the play “The Neverending Story”. The premiere at the Vogtland Theater in Plauen is on Wednesday.
The novel “The Neverending Story” by Michael Ende was published in 1979, the German-US fantasy film of the same name by German director Wolfgang Petersen only five years later, in 1984. Anyone who knows the story from back then will still remember the pictures from back then , how as a child he practically experienced the adventures of ten-year-old Bastian Balthasar Bux – he is the hero of the story. It is sometimes difficult, but not impossible, to fight against these images. In order to tell “The Neverending Story” convincingly on stage, the Plauen-Zwickau theater under the new artistic director Dirk Loeschner and the Zwickau puppet theater, which was spun off six years ago, entered into their first cooperation. The performance takes place in the new section of the theatre, “Jupz!”, which primarily aims to appeal to children and young people. The South African director and puppet maker Janni Younge, who has won several international prizes for her puppets, was hired to direct, set the stage and make the puppets. The music was written by Sebastian Undisz, musical director of the drama department at the Plauen-Zwickau theatre.
When actors and puppeteers meet
The play is performed by the puppeteers of the puppet theater and by young actors from the new branch of the theatre. The latter still had to learn how to guide the puppets during the rehearsals – and that from extremely different puppets. Because Janni Younge reached deep into the puppet maker’s box of tricks and conjured up a wide range of figures – from oversized to small finger puppets, the latter, however, being used by the puppet theater professionals. Everyone involved did well on the big stage. Of particular note is 19-year-old Mikko Will, who has been doing his federal voluntary service at the Plauen-Zwickau Theater since this season. Originally assigned as a prompter, he first took on the task of the sick assistant director, and from Wednesday he stood in for the injured leading actress Yasmin Dengg, who actually plays Bastian. Dengg was still able to play the first performance – planned as a premiere, played as a preview on November 26th – in front of an audience. From then on, the 19-year-old saved the following Zwickau performances.
Children follow enthusiastically
In Ende’s novel, the hero of the “Neverending Story”, the schoolboy Bastian, who was avid reader and remained seated, saves the magic land “Phantásia” from dissolving into nothingness and finally finds his way back from the fantasy world to reality, and thus out of loneliness the father who listens to him and believes his “Neverending Story”. The 75-minute production, designed as a school performance, has been approved for children aged six and over.
In previous performances, younger people followed what was happening on the big stage quite fearlessly and attentively – free from the preconceived images in their heads. There was a lot of applause.
“The Neverending Story” premieres at the Vogtlandtheater Plauen on December 7th at 9:15 am. Tickets are available at the theater box office. » theater-plauen-zwickau.de