Nationaltheater Mannheim

Feridun Zaimoglu und Günter Senkel

(Junk Opera based on Wilhelm Busch)

Staging: Michael Simon
Song Texts & Music: Johanna Zeul

Keys: Florian Scharnofske / Michael Zlanabitnig
Guit.: Johanna Zeul / Emanuel Dreher
Perc.: Ellen Mayer / Sönke Reich
Actors: Isabelle Höpfner / Silja von Kriegstein / Meridian  Winterberg / Michael Fuchs / Roman S. Pauls / Peter Pearce

Yes, we have to admit that most of us have heard of these two, young rascals who spent their time playing tricks on their neighbours when they should have been going to school. No one was spared - neither the nice neighbour, the innocent pet, the teacher nor the tradesman. Max and Moritz expertly laid the fire that inevitably led to an explosion and laughed themselves to death over the results. Society rid itself of these two little anarchists without consulting modern psychology. They were fed through the mincing machine and turned into pet food.

Artist/writer Wilhelm Busch(1832-1908) called his „picture strip stories”, published in popular papers „Papiertheater” - printed theatre. Robert Gernhardt, describing him and his work, wrote that he loved to expose all that was held sacred by his  „biedermeier” (stuffy) contemporates. Nothing was spared - marriage upbringing, drinking and all it could entail, life's purpose - all were subjects of interest for his artisic and intellectual perusal. In recent times Busch is seen by many as a forerunner of the silent screen's greatest stars, from Chaplin to The Marx Brothers, even up to our daily comic strips.