Programme overview Anhaltisches Theater
19.02.25 | 18.00 | Soiree ‘Wozzeck’ | Great House/Foyer | ADMISSION FREE
The Anhaltisches Theater cordially invites you to a soirée of ‘Wozzeck’ in the main theatre. There will be a discussion with the director Christian Iven and the general music director Markus L. Frank. Afterwards, guests can get a first impression of the production and attend the rehearsal.
21.02.25 | 19.00 | Divine Rhapsody | Großes Haus | RESTKARTEN
Revue – A musical journey through musical, opera, operetta, chansons and rock anthems (world premiere)
Divine Rhapsody – a musical journey through musicals, operas, operettas, chansons and rock anthems – a play with times, styles and perspectives.
The play deals with the fascination of the strong attraction that emanates from a stage goddess. At the centre is a great artist who is bidding farewell to a unique career. The film presents a dense portrait of a prima donna, a diva who tells her life story retrospectively, who goes backwards, forwards and off the beaten track in her play of thoughts, who describes the high and low points, episodes, anecdotes, who allows premonitions and interpretations to flow into the narrative thread. Passionate, witty moments of joy, nostalgia and melancholy blur boundaries – memories often paint more colourful pictures than life itself. They allow yesterday and today to merge, distorting realities and perceptions.
A colourful revue of song, drama and dance, an entertaining show on New Year’s Eve, a great performance by all involved that doesn’t end at the edge of the stage. With KS Iordanka Derilova, Philipp Feige, Laetitia Hippe, Costa Latsos, Christel Ortmann, Timothy Roller, the ballet ensemble and the opera choir of the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau.
22.02.25 | 17.00 | Replacement date ‘The Nutcracker’ for 02.01.25 | Large House
Fairytale ballet by Stefano Giannetti.
Music by Peter Tchaikovsky.
Libretto based on E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Nutcracker and the Mouse King and Alexandre Dumas the Elder’s Histoire d’un casse-noisette.
Peter Tchaikovsky created three ballet compositions and his Nutcracker is not without good reason considered the ‘Magic Flute of dance’. The ballet was first performed in St. Petersburg in 1892 together with the opera one-act Iolanta. And the pioneering colours, harmonies and sounds that the 19th-century Russian classicist offers up in both works give the lie to his reputation as a tawdry fashionable composer of Western influence.
Fascinated by the toy that Mr Drosselmeier gives the children on Christmas Eve, the girl Klara dreams herself away into a world of fantasy in which the figures come to life. It is almost as if the magic of the toy transforms Klara’s room into a wintery Christmas world in which Klara and her Nutcracker Prince take centre stage.
Stefano Giannetti tells the wintry dream story with a contemporary view of a romantic 19th century world that is as vivid as if it had all just happened yesterday.
The production is generously supported by the Friends of the Dessau Theatre.
The acquisition of a new celesta was made possible by the generous support of the of the Friends of the Anhalt Theatre Dessau.
23.02.25 | 16.00 | Michael Ende: ‘The Satanarchaeolügenialkohöllische Wunschpunsch’ | Großes Haus | For the last time
Christmas tale | for everyone aged 6 and over
It’s New Year’s Eve and the Secret Magic Council Irrwitzer only has until midnight to fulfil his annual quota of evil deeds. His Excellency Beelzebub himself has sent the bailiff Maledictus Made with a final warning. But nature, which Irrwitzer has contractually undertaken to destroy, has taken countermeasures. The High Council of Animals has sent a spy to his house, the tomcat Maurizio. The raven Jakob Krakel, also a secret agent of the High Council, is to support him. He has taken up residence with Irrwitzer’s aunt Tyrannja Vamperl, who is coming to visit her nephew on New Year’s Eve. Tyrannja is after an old parchment scroll containing the recipe for the legendary wishing punch. Anyone who drinks it on New Year’s Eve will have their every wish fulfilled – but in reverse. This wishing punch would be the solution to Irrwitzer’s problem.
If they wish for nothing but good deeds for the world, they will still reach Irrwitz’s contractual target of destruction. However, they only have a few hours left, because the punch loses its reversal effect at the first chime of midnight. Michael Ende’s children’s book Der satanarchäolügenialkhöllische Wunschpunsch was first published in 1989 and is more relevant today than ever. The scientist Prof Dr Beelzebub Irrwitzer has committed himself to destroying the environment, exterminating animals, bringing epidemics into the world and manipulating the climate. He is financially supported by his aunt Tyrannja Vamperl, who personifies exploitative capitalism. The story expresses the utopia of being able to turn all the negative things happening in the world into something positive. Symbolically, this happens at midnight on New Year’s Eve – the moment when good wishes and the hope for peace and happiness accompany the journey into the new year.
Performance rights: Verlag für Kindertheater Weitendorf GmbH
The production is generously supported by DB Fahrzeuginstandhaltung GmbH.
Tickets are available at the Tourist Information Centres in Dessau and Roßlau and at the box office.