Schell Ten: Theatrical premiere of Altenburg Wenzel Guard in the tradition of the GDR

Sharaf Grove. In a custom garden oasis in the Altenburger’s Land, Erica’s leaf sucker is causing a stir. Her husband’s underwear, which is rich in texture because it is so big, hangs on a clothesline. “You can use underwear as a privacy screen,” joked a neighbor of the couple. Everyone is in a good mood because the sun is shining and life in the bowers is business as usual.

But appearances are deceiving. For the gardener and the cleaning lady Isolde have ears like a lynx. And I overheard the mayor talking to himself in town hall — “accidentally,” of course. And he’s planning bad things: a new tourist concept is coming. Crowds of people from Leipzig will be drawn to the Altenburg land. But this puts Schell Zehne in grave danger. Because “ugly looks”, such as unused plots of land and a run-down garden pub, don’t fit into that concept. what should be done?

The Fast Ten: Can Skat Save Us?

Dedicated gardeners must act. They are trying to salvage their system with creative and sometimes silly ideas. They are under a lot of pressure, especially from the negative press about the squatters in the old tavern. In addition, they are suffering from the Museum of Natural History, which wants to establish a branch of it in Chil Zinh. The conflict leads to all kinds of hilarious situations, all ultimately aimed at one question: can Skat save the parks?

With the piece “Schell Zehne – Allotment Garden Stories from the Region” the Altenburg and Wenzelgarde artist returns from the three-year pandemic hiatus. On August 26, Eva Bohmer, the club’s president, stands jubilant on the stage at the Bausches Hof in Ehrenhein and greets the 80 or so spectators who have come to the four-sided courtyard in the bright sun: “So my dears – the time has finally come.” The subsequent start is not deterred by the rain. “Today you are watching the world premiere and the premiere. You are our test audience,” explained Eva Bommer. The test audience was impressed. There is a lot of laughter and whispers. Applause after each scene.

“Strange and absurd”: buffoonery in the farce tradition in the GDR

The play’s author, Dana Weber, can think of two words to describe her “custom stories”: “whimsical and absurd.” And they hit the target with that. Based on the good old GDR farce, the band plays into a frenzy. Exaggerated, specific and sexy, the actors portray their roles with utter passion and dedication. It doesn’t matter to one or the other text wobbler at all. Instead, there are singing and dancing interludes as well as impeccably pronounced tongue twisters.

Without batting around the bush, it follows the muzzle, filled with plenty of local colour. In short or sometimes long sketches, Wenzelgarde’s cast all get their theatrical moments in lovingly designed scenery. The world is turned upside down when a mother tries to convince her carnivorous daughter to become a vegetarian, but she doesn’t feel like “tofu sausage” and would rather nibble on the salami she carries in her handbag.

“We wanted to bring the play to the stage of today,” Andy Drabek says of the development process, which began with weekly rehearsals for amateur actors in February of this year. Wenzelgarde’s vice president reports that after a good three years from the start of the pandemic, optimism is finally in the air again and the acting group can do what they do best again: acting and spreading fun.

20 years of experience on stage

The Artists’ and Wenzel’s Guard are by no means an unknown band in the Altenburg region – in fact, they are notorious. This year marks its twentieth anniversary. A hit with the public a few years ago was the song “Rüben in Aspic”, also penned by Dana Weber, also known as the OVZ correspondent. At the premiere of Beets at the Altenburg Museum Night 2019, the audience could not keep their chairs from laughing, wrote the OVZ author who was present at the time.

This time, too, the following applies: No dry eye here. But not without social criticism. After all, it is about people who may be robbed of the center of their lives, their garden. Very quickly, the story builds up more and more climax – at the end, after a good 70 minutes, all the actors are on stage for the grand finale. Can they save their facility? Deeply planted slapstick friends will be delighted with the Schell Zehne.

Four more posts

On the ninth of September, the guards will be guests at the ostrich farm in Hartha. The theatrical evening is accompanied by a dinner. Tickets are on Burkhardt’s Ostrich Farm website to get. On September 16th and 17th, there will be performances at the tea house in Altenburg, before the final show in Garbisdorf on September 23rd at the Koelenhof cultural estate.

LVZ