Alexander Heidenreich

Legendary director Hans Neuenfels once again proves his great skill with this interpretation of Mozart’s “Entführung aus dem Serail” (Abduction from the Seraglio). This extraordinary production conducted by Lothar Zagrosek, and with Catherine Naglestad, Kate Ladner and Matthias Klink in the main roles, won the Bavarian Theatre Prize in 1999 and offers a refreshingly new view of one of the most frequently played operas worldwide. Special highlight: Neuenfels places an actor at every singer’s side who not only takes over his role for the spoken original scripts, but also interacts with his singing double and other characters of the piece. In recent decades, directors have sought to revitalise the somewhat naive plot of the “Entführung” with fresh interpretations. Hans Neuenfels, who produced his “first Mozart” here in Stuttgart, retains the story’s naivety and absurdity. He does this in a very stimulating and intelligent way.

After two failed marriages, Walter is finally looking for a wife again. But his father Paul, who believes his own position in the house would be jeopardized if a daughter-in-law came into the house, cunningly gets rid of all the candidates. Walter has placed an advertisement for a wife, as both the male-headed household run by Walter's father Paul and the upbringing of his adolescent son Peter require a female hand to keep things in order. Grandfather Paul, on the other hand, feels that the cosy trinity and especially his own position in the house would be jeopardized if another daughter-in-law took over the reins. So Paul sets about inventively thwarting Walter's intentions. At first, it is completely inexplicable to Walter why all his encounters with marriageable ladies end in failure. But he has other things to worry about at the moment anyway. His son, Peter, is having an affair with his teacher's daughter, of all people.

The thirteen year old Janni is depressed, because she's still a little behind in her physical development. This leads to bullying remarks from her classmates. One day, a film crew comes to her school to find a candidate for the role of a Prince in a movie. They choose Janni, who they think is a boy. She takes on the role. At school, she tells her classmates she plays a Princess. When the moment of truth approaches she must find the self-confidence to invite the class to the premiere.

Ten-year-old Ole is full of mischief. He attempts to fly and is hospitalized with a broken leg. When he sees a Sherlock Holmes movie on TV, however, he forgets about the pains and comes up with a new plan. Disguised as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, he and his friend Andreas start searching for criminals. Soon, the two boys detect their first case. On the street they meet a man wearing a stuck-on beard. The hobby detectives find this very suspicious and decide to follow him.

The story of a young German boy and his father who befriend a Jewish family during WWII.