Alfred Peter / Reviżjonijiet

The fact that the ensemble of the Theater Freiburg has been acting at the highest level, especially in terms of vocals, is impressively demonstrated by this production. In addition to the main actors Butterfly and Benjamin F. Pinkterton, sung and played by Irina Jae Eun Park and Joshua Kohl, especially the Characters by Suzuki and Sharpless, who are portrayed more than formidably by Inga Schäfer and Anja Jung as well as John Carpenter. Through their impressive acting and musical achievements, the dramaturgy, which becomes more and more overwhelming in the course of the play, is made even more tangible. (...) " Madama Butterfly" manages in an impressive way to captivate the audience with a current topic and showsthat a form of theater that is difficult to access, especially for young audiences, can be made accessible.

A butterfly has four lives – or rather stages of development. The last two are certainly the most exciting: the chrysalis and chrysalis and the brief existence as a moth. It is only at this stage that we really perceive him in his beauty paired with vulnerability. Like the US naval officer Benjamin F. Pinkerton in Giacomo Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly", who, impressed by the exoticism and beauty of the title character, "bought" it like a toy, like a doll, in order to relax after a few pleasant hours turn away from her. Without knowing that this "pairing" was not without consequences. Why should he be more interested in this butterfly? Puccini's opera does that. And that is the reason why it has touched us so deeply and painfully ever since the triumph of its revised version in 1904. Because she lets you empathize with the title character and shows insistently what a lack of respect can trigger.

The Theater Hagen is now showing Anatevka ( Fiddler on the Roof ) as a life-packed milieu study somewhere between tragedy and comedy. The production is already a theatrical success at the premiere, which was not experienced in Hagen for a long time, even before Corona. The audience immediately stands up and applauds a committed ensemble and an excellent orchestra. […] Anatevka is the first production in 18 months that the Hagen Theater has been able to show with a full cast; Over 50 participants, soloists, almost all guests, the great, individually led choir, ballet, extras act on the stage, 30 musicians play in the pit with the conductor, and the audience enjoys the opulent performance with the many dance numbers.

o, this Anatevka, situated somewhere in the Ukrainian no man's land, was never beautiful. Poverty, gossip and gossip characterize life, and the coexistence of the Jewish community with the Christian-Russian community in 1905 works more poorly than well. At best they avoid each other, at worst they bully each other. And what is held up as "tradition" cements the hierarchies. It's not a folkloric idyll, but a run-down shtetl, a small town district - Tevje, the main character, is a milkman and not a farmer. Director Thomas Weber-Schallauer points this out in the program booklet, and the unadorned stage with faceless house facades that seem to overwhelm life (stage design: Alfred Peter) underlines that although the rapid change between indoor and outdoor spaces sometimes looks quite improvised. The clichés of Jewish coexistence shouldn't be used excessively, whereby the costumes (Yvonne Forster) are quite traditional - and the choreography (Ricardo De Nigris), who tries very hard anyway, can't think of much else. But all in all, it manages very well to keep the balance between a world that never heals but is nevertheless secure and the reality of expulsion and homelessness in which the play ends.