Introduction
Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairytale is a story about the wonder, as well as the challenge of being different, a story to move you, make you think, and to enjoy!
The Brave Tin Soldier has only one leg. His 24 brothers have two legs. Even though the tin soldier stands strong like others, he is not selected for a place in the toy box. From outside the gates, the tin soldier sees a beautiful ballerina. He thinks to himself, “She is like me. She has only one leg to spin on.” And the tin soldier fell instantly in love with the ballerina.
One day the tin soldier was blown out the window by a strange gust of wind. Two naughty boys saw and picked him up. The tin soldier had no luck finding home with the boys. He soon found himself standing one-legged in a paper boat, sailing down the sewer. On his bumpy journey, the tin soldier dangerously dodged a chasing rat. Just when he thought he could be sailing home, the tin soldier was gobbled down by a hungry fish.
Will the tin soldier’s journey end in the stomach of the hungry fish? Will he ever be able to return home and see his beloved ballerina?
Discover the adventures of the Brave Tin Soldier in this marvelous shadow puppetry adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale. The adventure starts as soon as you walk into the theater and gigantic billowy cloth suddenly inflates before your eyes. We are instantly wrapped in a magical white dome and the story is told on the curved walls surrounding us. With the Brave Tin Soldier in the lead, we are transported into a wonderworld of dreamy castles, magical toylands and fantastic underwater kingdoms. A story about feeling and understanding differences that will make you gasp with wonder endlessly.
Adapted the fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen
Direction : T.J.Lehmann
Set design: I.Mewes und T.Klemm
Play: Jeffrey Burrell
Dance: Michelle Haugen
Technic,sound,lighting and effects: S.Huerdler,S.Tenner-Ketzer and G.Weidig
Photographer:Lutz Edelholf
The Team
The puppet theatre in Meiningen was founded in 1986 by the doyen of the German puppet theatre, Rolf Thieme, as a department of the Meininger Theater. In the first season the 16 members of the ensemble – including the director, set builders, puppeteers and technicians – gave a total of 220 performances of their 3 productions in the Thuringian area. The ensemble`s very first production of was “Doktor Faust” performed with glove puppets. Since 1987 the puppet theatre has been run by Maria C. Zoppeck. Numerous puppeteers currently working in other theatres made their debut on the stage in Meiningen.
Today the puppet theatre in Meiningen is considered to be one of the most durable figure theatre ensembles in the German-speaking world. Annually there are about 140 performances in Thuringia, Saxony, Hesse and Bavaria for children, young people and adults. There are also national and international performances at puppet festivals and theatre events.
The 6-member ensemble has given itself the particular task of presenting classical children` stories. Numerous marionette and glove puppet productions cover such material as “Rumpelstilzchen”, “King Drosselbart”, “Eisenhans” ( based on the Brothers Grimm),“Tischlein deck`dich” (based on Bechstein),”Treasure Island” (based on Stevenson),”Der Froschkönig”( based by Grimm) and “The brave tin soldier” (based on Andersen). Clasics such as “Max & Moritz” (Wilhelm Busch) and more modern stories such as “Joshua & the magic fiddle” (Janosch) and “The story of Ferdinand” (Munro Leaf) are also in the program and are very popular. For some time now the puppet theatre has been successfully involved in productions by the meininger theatre such as “Jackie”, “Ghetto” “Fairy Queen” and “Pippi Landstumpf”. Despite successive moves to wide variety of rehearsal rooms and the usual turnover of ensemble members each season, the troupe continues to remain dynamic, indeed the professionalism, aura and flexibility have increased.