DER ANDERMATTER Sommer 2016

At rehearsals in May, the stage set consists of wooden slats
and cardboard. The actors are dressed in casual clothes. The
orchestra pit is marked out with adhesive tape. Yet the commitment
and the passion for the Tell Plays can be clearly felt
already. 84 children, young people and adults, as well as around
20 musicians, are rehearsing intensively in preparation for the
theatre spectacular about the freedom fighter William Tell. The
event opens in mid-August, with 26 performances of the Altdorf
Tell Plays due to be held by the end of October. Until then, making
sure everything runs without a hitch – from the script, to the
costumes and lighting – is the job of director Philipp Becker and
his team.
The stage director has already brought many major projects to
the stage. One of his productions was honoured with the German
National Culture Award, Germany's highest distinction. A resident of
Tübingen, Philipp Becker is known in Switzerland from his work at
Bern City Theatre and as a lecturer at Zurich University of the Arts.
He won over the Tell Plays Theatre Group more than three years
ago, with his proposed new concept for the Altdorf Tell Plays 2016.
Much has been done since then, and countless hours of work still
await the ensemble between now and the opening night.
A drama for the people's theatre
The Altdorf Tell Plays are held every four years. As soon as one
play season finishes, it's straight on with preparations for the
next: the Altdorf Tell Plays Theatre Group appoints a committee
that seeks out potential directors, shortlists three who are invited
to draw up a concept, and finally decides upon one of them.
Philipp Becker follows in the footsteps of Erwin and Franziska
Kohlund, Volker Hesse, Louis Naef and Barbara Schlumpf, all of
them celebrated European artistic directors from the Germanspeaking
theatre. Other than the direction team, no other professionals
are involved in the Altdorf Tell Plays.
There is a completely different approach to each new production
of the Tell Plays. The plot and the underlying script, however,
remain the same: the drama "William Tell" by the German poet
and historian, Friedrich Schiller. The play centres on the saga of
the Uri peasant, William Tell, who – so the story goes – felled the
Hapsburg tyrant Gessler with an arrow from his crossbow in the
narrow pass known as the Hohle Gasse near Küssnacht, thereby
helping to lay the foundations of the Swiss Confederation with
the Rütli Oath. "Wilhelm Tell" is Schiller's final completed stage
play. He was given the idea by his friend, Johann Wolfgang von
Intensive Proben: Rund 100 Mitwirkende bereiten sich auf die Aufführungen vor. Intensive rehearsals: around 100 participants are preparing for the production.
SPIELPLAN & TICKETS
Ticket Center Uri:
Schützengasse 11 in Altdorf
Tel. +41 (0)41 874 80 09
www.ticketcenter-uri.ch
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