Theatergesellschaft Bad Endorf
The Theatergesellschaft Bad Endorf e.V. is an amateur theatre that started performing in 1790 and hence counts as the third oldest theatre in Bavaria. It has a specialization in religious drama and performs every year from Pentecoast on for ca. 5 weeks, hosting up to 5000 spectators during a season. The theatre society is located on Rosenheimer Straße 6, Bad Endorf. Performances normally last several hours and involve large casts of ca. 60 actors. All set designs and costumes are produced by the members. The Bavarian State Ministery of Education and Culture mentioned the amateur theatre valuable in regard to popular education and artistic practice.
History
In a time period at the end of eighteenth century when in Bavaria the church and state authorities largely repressed religious and passion play, theatre amateurs in the village of Bad Endorf/Teisenheim performed in 1790 the religious play „Thraurige Vorstellung dess Erschrecklichen Jingsten Gerichts“ („Saddening Representation of the Horrible Last Judgement“).[1] The play was loosely inspired by the themes of "Everyman" presenting the horrible consequences of falling to the temptations of evil. The cast consisted of 27 people in addition to a large number of extras for the group of "the righteous" and "the godless" in the grande finale.[2] After this first outdoor performance the pheasant theatre (Bauerntheater) continued to stage religious plays, historic knight and robber plays ("Ritter- und Räuberstücke") in diverse local locations (local inns, yards etc.). The ambition to follow the Oberammergau example and engage in passion play from 1817 on was continually blocked by the church authorities that did not deem the pheasants worth staging the passion of Christ.[3] In 1866 a group of 12 village people (pheasants, inn keepers, merchants) initiated a formal theatre association ("Theatergesellschaft Bad Endorf") and raised money to start building their own theatre. One of their success performances was the religious play of "The Egyptian Joseph" ("Der ägyptische Joseph") that included music performance and the staging of tableaux vivants "in the style of the passion plays in Oberammergau"[4]. In 1958 the theatre was remodelled and hosts now up to 534 spectators. Since the end oft he 1960s the amateur theatre also performed comedies and farces. In 1991 it received the Kulturpreis (cultural prize) from the county of Rosenheim.
Members
- Paula Aiblinger
- Konrad Schlaipfer
- Annemarie Ramoser
- Julia Hofmann
- Werner Hofmann
- Barbara Bichler
- Andrea Krug
- Katharina Plank
- Martina Seehuber-Liegl
- Marlene Dickl
- Emmeram Aiblinger
- Josef Mayer
- Markus Mädler
- Flo Schauer
- Kathi Plank
Repertoire
They regularly performed plays by the following authors:
- 1949-1955 Christian Mayrl; former clockmaker from Eggstätt (7 plays)
- 1976-1995 Hubert Bomba from Bad Endorf (13 plays)
- 2000 Margarethe Janssen from Waldkraiburg (1 play)
- 2007, 2010, 2012 & 2014 Horst Rankl from Rosenheim (4 plays)
Religious play performed between 1945 and 1990:
- Die hl. Elisabeth von Thüringen, 1946, 1956, 1972, 1985
- Saulus, 1947, 1966, 1982
- Der verlorene Sohn, 1948, 1977
- Die sel. Irmengard, 1949, 1968, 1983
- Der Ägyptische Joseph, 1950, 1979
- Franziskus von Assisi, 1951, 1967, 1980
- Margaretha von Cortona, 1952, 1969
- Nikolaus von Flüe, 1953, 1973,
- Thomas Morus, 1954, 1976
- Bruder Konrad von Parzham, 1955, 1970, 1984
- Maria Lourdes, 1957, 1974, 1988
- Hedwig von Andechs, 1958, 1975
- Die hl. Nothburga, 1959, 1971,1987
- Der hl. Pfarrer von Ars, 1960, 1989
- Klara von Assisi, 1961
- Klemens Maria Hofbauer, 1962
- Mutter Monika und ihr Sohn Augustinus, 1963, 1981
- Königin Adelheid, 1964, 1978
- Der Rufer Gottes - Kolping, 1965
- Saulus, 1966, 1982
- Franziskus von Aissisi, 1967, 1980
- Der hl. Stephanus, 1986
- Moses, 1990
Recently performed plays:
- Gerhard Prell: „Martin Luther“ (religious play)
- Paula Aiblinger: Bruder Konrad (religious play)
- Paula Aiblinger: Hedwig von Andechs (religious play)
- Julia and Werner Hofmann: Irmengard vom Chiemsee (religious play)
- Julia and Werner Hofmann: Die Musketiere (for families)
- Erich Eckert, Hubert Bomba, Elisabeth Neubauer: Der verlorene Sohn (religious play)
- Franz Schauer: „Die Pfiffige Urschl“ (comedy)
- Ulla Kling: A Leich zum Kaffee (comedy)
- Carl Borro Schwerla: Graf Schorschi (comedy)
- Georg Lohmeier: Königlich Bayerisches Amtsgericht (comedy)
- Marianne Santl: Herkules der Musterstier (comedy)
- Ludwig Anzensgruber: Doppelselbstmord. Ko des sei? (comedy)
- Howard Pyle: Robin Hood (for children)
- Hirtenstück
- Astrid Lindgren: Ronja Räubertochter (for children)
Sources
- Harvolk, Edgar, Das Endorfer Volksschauspiel, Rosenheim 1974.
- Harvolk, Edgar, Die Endorfer Volksschauspiele seit 1790, Munich 1990.
Weblinks
References
- ↑ A thorough analysis and discussion of the play as performed in Bad Endorf is found in Edgar Harvolk, Das Endorser Volksschauspiel, Rosenheim 1974, ch. II "Das Endorfer Jüngst-Gericht-Spiel", 24-86.
- ↑ Harvolk, Das Endorfer Volksschauspiel, 51.
- ↑ Edgar Harvolk, Die Endorfer Volksschauspiele seit 1790, Munich 1990, 5-6.
- ↑ Subtitle on a theatre bill from 1884, quoted in Harvolk, Die Endorser Volksschauspiele, 8.