A childish weekend at the theatre

The Little Vampire - Ernst Deutsch Theater, Hamburg 29th October, 2011

I must confess (if you haven't noticed yet) I am still from time to time such a kid so when the Ernst Deutsch Theater was giving away free tickets for its production of "The Little Vampire" I of course had to register myself and was even lucky at the end.

So Saturday afternoon was spent inside a theatre watching a kids' show and it was not one at the Schmidt Theater. ;)

I grew up with reading the wonderful books by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg, loved the 80s TV series (gosh I had such a crush on the boy playing Rüdiger, well I was, what 12, 13 ;) ) though I did not like the "new adventures" in the 90s. I loved the idea of friendship going beyond the usual boundaries and there was so much heart and soul in these books that just touched me.

I must say I was a bit worried whether this was transported well onstage despite some good reviews but I was not let down at all. This production is one of the best kids' theatre productions I have ever seen.

What was most impressive is the stage set. There was so much eye to the details which I have never seen in such a show. The atmospheres created onstage for the various scenes felt so realistic that there were moments when I e.g. forgot that it was just an artificial graveyard.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the actors especially the guy playing Rüdiger, the actual little vampire. Besides a make-up to die for he played the 11 year old (well the age when Rüdiger turned into a vampire) so convincingly, acting very true to that age without it becoming too silly or too ridiculous. The "Anton" performer, while good as well, was next to him, a bit of a let down though this might be mainly as it largely bugged me that he looked very grown up and only partly acted like a 9 year old.

The others, as the girl playing Anna, Rüdiger's younger sister and Herr Geiermeier (with some more funny up to date information added to his character) also stayed very close to the characters who grew close to my heart many moons ago that it was a delight to watch.

It was definitely a well spent afternoon and I can only recommend it. I myself look forward now to part two of the "little vampire" series which will be onstage at the same theatre next year.

The Little Vampire Pictures

Der Räuber Hotzenplotz - Schmidt Theater, Hamburg 30th October 2011

So after a wonderful Saturday afternoon I thought to turn the weekend into a total "back to the childhood" weekend and went to see the "Räuber Hotzenplotz" once more really hoping for the two alternates I hadn't seen yet to be on. Well just one of the two was on but I was not disappointed.

Robber Hotzenplotz - Götz Fuhrmann
Kasperl - Jan Radermacher
Seppel - Mario Saccoccio
Grandmother/Fairy - Elena Zvirbulis
Constable/Sorcerer - Markus Richter

So it was my first time seeing Markus Richter as the constable/sorcerer and having seen him in other shows before I had been a bit sceptical but I was positively surprised once I accepted that he just is not Timo Riegelsberger, his alternate.

His constable is not a Prussian one but more the Bavarian type (which goes with the description in the books of the character and goes with the name of him), slower and more portly (think of the big cop in "Rosenheim Cops" if you familiar with that TV series), but without the dialect. He missed/didn't deliver the odd funny line properly which was a shame but as the sorcerer he totally made up for it.  His Zwackelmann is rather manic and scary (first time I actually had a few little kids starting to cry when he appeared) with his rather nasal voice (think of Willy, the bee Maya's best friend gone wicked ;0) if you recall that show from your childhood if spent in Germany) that suited the character so well. His height being at least one head taller than the others also added to his stage presence.

After I was not too convinced by Mario as Seppel the last time I enjoyed his performance a lot more. He was far less hyped up, more a boy he is to be, closer to the character, actually giving me the impression he was actually more feeling like a boy though I still prefer Manuel Ettelt missing the pure and utter dumbness and the cute innocence Manuel delivered so well three weeks ago.

Götz Fuhrmann as the robber was also fun to watch though I must say I enjoyed him more two weeks ago as he seemed to rush the odd lines and also fluffed a few this time which reminded me of his performance in "Heiße Ecke" three weeks ago. Still entertaining and the kids around me loved him (and it was lovely to see that he did join the others signing stuff after the show).

Elena was such a stunner again. I must say I seriously do not want to see her alternate again (though I know I will :( ) as for me she misses everything that Elena has and brings into her performance. Elena just is a grandmother from head to toe when she is to be  and she just is a fairy from head to toe when she is to be. There is just so much clarity, graciousness and class which is just the right balance to make her so believable.

And well, last but not least, there's Jan Radermacher as Kasperl. There is not much else I can add to what I said already in the past about his performance.

I just adore him (gosh watching him with the little kids after the show is just most heart-melting), I adore what he does onstage, how much he puts into each of his performances. Someone might say that this is "just" a kids' show but even  in this it is still incredible to see how much compassion he e.g. puts into one little facial impressions telling me all about the character's current emotional state and unique personality - that is what a true actor is for me: he is not just acting as another but becomes another - even if he "just" plays Kasperl.

So overall a highly enjoyable weekend that needs to be repeated soon.