Heidi
Johanna Spyri
Children’s play with music / Stage adaptation by Marco Dott / From 5 years
Synopsis
What does one need to be happy? Not much – as little Heidi quickly finds out when her aunt Dete takes her to live with her grandfather, high up on a mountain. The “Alm-Uncle”, as the locals call him, is an old crank who lives alone in a sparsely furnished hut. Will he and Heidi get along? Five-year old Heidi soon wins the old man’s heart with her disarming honesty and unabashed zest for life. And she discovers that all she needs to be happy is the mountains, the alpenglow, the fresh air – and her Alm-Uncle. Together with her new friend, Peter the goatherd, she enjoys the freedom of life in the mountains. Heidi has found a home.
But all of a sudden Aunt Dete returns to take Heidi to the wealthy Sesemann family in the big city. Their daughter Clara is confined to a wheelchair and needs a companion. Heidi hits the Sesemann household like a whirlwind and shows Clara how to enjoy life. The two become best friends, but Heidi’s longing for her grandfather, for Peter and for the mountains grows with each passing day. The only thing for her to do is to go home!
With its fresh and humorous production and energetic choreographies, this new version of the wonderful story about an independent child of the mountains shows that “Heidi” is anything but corny, but rather a beautiful tale about friendship, belonging and the search for one’s place in the world.
Johanna Spyri (1827–1901) wrote the touching story of strong and optimistic little Heidi 140 years ago. Her books “Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning” and “Heidi: How She Used What She Learned”, published in 1879 and 1880, have so far been made into eight animated films, five TV series and twelve feature films. Generations of children all over the world have grown up with “Heidi”, one of the best-known works of Swiss literature.
Marco Dott has staged many great plays for young audiences. His productions of “Momo”, “The Robber Hotzenplotz” and “König Badeschwamm” are still fondly remembered. Together with his team he now presents a new take on the story of Heidi. This modern and lovingly created production of a classic children’s book includes much music and opens up a thrilling world to old and young theatre lovers.
Duration: 70 min / keine Pause
Reviews
Marco Dott schafft es, die Geschichte der freiheitsliebenden Heidi und ihrer im Rollstuhl sitzenden Freundin Klara ganz ohne Sentimentalität zu erzählen. Diese moderne, kurzweilige Fassung mit viel Musik wird bei Kindern ab fünf Jahren sicherlich gut ankommen.
Am Salzburger Landestheater ist […] zu sehen, dass sich die ewige Kinderheldin auch auf der Bühne zuhaus’ fühlt. Marco Dott hat als Regisseur aus der populären Vorlage eine kurzweilige, 70-minütige Theaterfassung mit Liedern (Musik: Stephan Witt) für Kinder ab fünf Jahren gemacht. Als Titelheldin versprüht Patrizia Unger jenen unverbrüchlichen Charme, mit dem Heidi sogar das angeeiste Herz des Almöhi erweicht und das Regiment des Fräulein Rottenmeier ins Wanken bringt. […] Komik und Slapstick halten das Tempo hoch. Als akrobatischer Hausdiener Sebastian und als Geißenpeter erntet Aaron Röll da beim jungen Publikum Lacher.
Audio introduction
von Christina Piegger
Cast
Director
Marco Dott
Choreography
Josef Vesely
Kate Watson
Stage and Costume Design
Katja Schindowski
Music
Stephan Witt
Dramaturgy
Christina Piegger
Heidi
Patrizia Unger
Alm-Öhi / Herr Sesemann
Axel Meinhardt
Peter / Sebastian
Aaron Röll
Frl. Rottenmeier
KS Britta Bayer
Dete / Klara
Elisabeth Mackner
Hauslehrer / Türmer Martin Trippensee