Marionettentheater Kleines Spiel
History
In the 1930s young Peter Auzinger started together with other children performing puppet theatre under the name of "Münchener Marionettenbühne", later "Marionetten-Kammerspiel München", in private spaces of friends and family. Ca. 15 young puppet player continued to perform until 1939. After the war, Peter Auzinger brought together again a group of friends, meanwhile all students, to re-start their amateur theatre activities. In an improvised theatre space in Georgenstraße they first performed Lope de Vega's "Die schlaue Susanne" in August 1945. Encouraged by the great success of their private performance, they decided to engage in establishing their own theatre studio.
Kleines Spiel was the first theatre in Munich that received in April 1946 a license from the American Military Government with the permission to renovate a badly damaged apartment in Ainmillerstraße. Tragically, during renovation Peter Auzinger fell victim to an accident on site and died at the age of 25. The group, struck by the loss, pulled themselves together and continued in the spirit of Auzinger. They finally opened the new premises with 72 seats, a proscenium stage, foyer and workshop in February 1947.
In 1952 the theatre company moved to the University Riding Hall, Königinstr. 34, where they again created a theatre auditorium for 72 spectators, a workshop and storage space. Kleines Spiel has performed here for four years before moving to their final location at Neureuther Str. 12, still today the theatre's home.
Tankred Dorst, a young student who later became one of Germany's most prominent dramatist of the period, joined the puppet theatre amateurs in 1951. He remained active there for 13 years. During this time, many of his early pieces were written for and performed at Kleines Spiel. His writings on the marionette theatre as an art form and dramatic genre also date back to this period.
Not untypical for amateur theatre after a climax of activity, Kleines Spiel had a production crisis during the 1970s, but was able to come back to full performances in the 1980s. Today the amateur company regularly performs every second Thursday, with the exception of school holidays and a long summer break. All of their shows are for free, donations are welcome.
Kleines Spiel became firmly established in the Munich cultural landscape. The theatre company received a number of awards and prizes:
- 1965: Schwabinger Ehrenpreis
- 1971: Förderungspreis für interpretierende Kunst der Landeshauptstadt München
- 2004: Schwabinger Kunstpreis
- 2018: Larifari-Preis, Verband Bayerischer Amateur-Theater
Repertoire
- Lope de Vega: "Die schlaue Susanne"
- Carlo Goldoni: "Der Lügner"
- Tankred Dorst: "A Trumpet for Nap"
- Tankred Dorst: "Maipus Versuchung"
- Trankred Dorst: "Die Geschichte von Aucassin und Nicolette"
- Tankred Dorst: "Eugen. Eine merkwürdige Geschichte"
- Tankred Dorst: "Felis Caligatus"
- Ben Johnson: "Volpone"
- Carlos Larra u. Eugène Ionesco: "Schnöde Idyllen"
- Christoph Buggert: "Ikarus"
- Bertolt Brecht: "Mann ist Mann"
- Bertolt Brecht: "Der gute Mensch von Sezchuan"
- Albert Maly-Motta u. Peter Cornelius: "Das kleine Zwischenspiel"
- Michael Ende: "Momo"
- Jean Anouilh: "Cécile oder Die Schule der Väter"
- Peter Geierhaas: "Für eine Handvoll Wasser"
- Peter Geierhaas u. Michaela Siepmann: "Schnell im Biss"
- Ludwig Thoma: "Heilige Nacht"
- Günter Eich: "Geh nicht nach El Kuhwehd!"
- William Shakespeare: "Macbeth"
- Charles Dickens: "Eine Weihnachtsgeschichte"
- Kurt Schwitters: "Zusammenstoß"
- Roland Hagenberg: "Jetlag"
- Roy Prinzessin: "Fanal"
- "Eilige Nacht" (collective production)
- "Darwins Kapitän und die wahre Geschichte des Jim Knopf" (collective production)
- "Wal de Mar und die Wasserköpfe" (collective production)
People
- Peter Aunzinger
- Tankred Dorst
- Pit Baumüller
- Helmuth Kaufmann
- Werner Kubierschky
- Wilhelm Killmayer
- Bodo Nibbe
- Hermann J. Bauer
- Eberhard Böhringer
- Wulf Nibbe
- Ulrich Dittmann
- Christoph Buggert
- Diethard Klante
- Martin Dörfler
- Ernst Hofmeister
- Harry Täschner
- Peter Kaufmann
- Jochen Weill
- Christian Voss
- Antje Voss
- Konradin Zeller
- Hanno Suttmann
- Albert Maly-Motta
- Peter Cornelius
- Heide Dahme
- Gerhard Meyer
- Oliver Kiehl
- Martin Kiehl
- Daniela Kiehl
- Eberhard Rohrer
- Judith Winstel
- Ursa Hipp
- Dorit Zimmermann
- Thomas Wacker
- Sebastian Schmid
- Peter Geierhaas
- Margit Findl
- Caroline Daou
- Wuff Drewes-Kracht
- Axel Bahro
- Michaela Loibl
- Mirjam Hirschauer
- Ev Lutz
- Heide Volk
- Ralf Tritschler
- Wuff Drewes-Kracht
- Christian Schieckel
- Dietrich Löbell
- Veronika Hofmeister
- Rainer Hipp
- Marion Zikeli
- Ralf Tritschler
- Ingo Harder
- Robert Pusch
- Nicola von Otto
- Olaf Simons
- Steffi Tegeler
- Ulf Grotehusmann
- Hartmut Grawe
- Thomas Schwendemann
- Dorothea Seitz
- Christian Bogner
- Robert Eckl
- Raphael Wiegand
- Carola Wiegand
- Ulrike Kretschmer
- Silvia Stettmayer
- Luise Eichhorn
- Heike Müller-Deku
- Steve Cosaert
- Armin Wolf
- Dominik Frank
- Ayna Steigerwald
- Thomas Schneider
- Jess Huber
- Martin Schülke
- Franziska Krumpschmid