Sunday, February 27, 2011

The Robber Hotzenplotz

I heard about Robber Hotzenplotz for the first time from a friend who told me about what he had read to his son the previous night. That odd name piqued my interest and when I checked out the book which was originally written in 1962 and read some excerpts about it found the story really interesting. I decided that I would buy the book for little bunny and little rabbit. Then came the perpetual question of whether I buy the original 'Der Räuber Hotzenplotz' in German or the translated editon 'The Robber Hotzenplotz'. I decided to go for the translated editon that way having to avoid doing the pre-reading and making sure I know all the meanings of all the words before reading it to the girls ;-) This was our first book of the author Otfried Preussler and right from the beginning we were addicted to it. Bed times in those weeks used to be so easy because both little bunny and me wanted to know what was going to happen next and 'Hotzenplotz' would be the code word to go upstairs to bed :-) So when I heard that the Werkraum Theater in Walldorf was going to host a childrens performance based on the story of Robber Hotzenplotz I asked little bunny if she would like to go and watch it and it was no surprise that I got a loud and resounding 'Yes Mama'.




We loved the way the characteres we knew from the book came alive on stage with their costumes and their dialouges. The characters Kasperl and Seppel and how they get their hats exchanged and get their identities switched. The magician Petrosilius Zwackelmann and the Sergeant Dimpfelmoser with his Prussian spiked helmet, riding his official bike.



The fun part was when during the performance when one of the characters was enjoying the stolen 'Bratwurst mit Sauerkraut' grilled sausage with shredded cabbage asked the children if they would like to try some and little bunny immediately raised her hand. I thought it was a joke but the children who actually went up to the stage got their own sausages from the robber!! The older children put up a very professional performance and the little children definitely had a great time. I definitely plan to read some of the other well known books of the author Otfried Preußler and keep an eye open for theater performances of his stories as well.





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