Eine Weihnachtsgeschichte nach Charles Dickens

Alongside the story of Jesus' birth, it is probably the most-told literary subject of the Advent season: Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". The socially critical story about the old miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who is haunted by four ghosts on the eve of Christmas and rediscovers his humanity through them, is a classic. There is no theater that has not performed this work several times.

So why a new version? The director and producer Martin Mühleis has enjoyed great success with stage adaptations of literary works in recent years. His adaptation of Erich Kästner's autobiographical story "When I was a little boy" with Walter Sittler in the lead role alone has been performed more than 500 times. He has now created a musical stage fairy tale for the two actors Samuel Finzi and Herbert Knaup together with the composer Libor Síma. Its aesthetics are reminiscent of old black-and-white films and play with elements of literary revues. Space is created through the music and the skilful lighting - and yet the literary text always plays the main role, the tempo, rhythm and structure of the novella are also preserved in the reading version.

This story, first published in 1843, appears timeless and current.
Especially in an age of egocentrism, with one-man companies and iPhones, the work of Charles Dickens emphasizes the value of charity and empathy towards one another. And in the interpretation of Samuel Finzi and Herbert Knaup, the story takes on an incredible liveliness, despite the moral tone. In conjunction with the stage music, both succeed in bringing out the typical, quirky British humor in a touching way.