If you want to see amateur football on the big stage, like that experience of seeing Brasil na Copa do Mundo (brazil in the world cup), you have to go to Wanne-Eickel. There, the Volkstheater Mondpalast has taken up the theme and developed a comedy based on the well-known comedy “Der zerbrochene Krug”. Christian Stratmann, principal of the Moon Palace, explains on FUSSBALL.DE how the piece “Der zerdepperte Pott” came about and what makes this piece special.
The press reviews after the sold-out premiere in October were clear: “Der zerdepperte Pott”, the new play of the Volkstheater Mondpalast in Wanne-Eickel, has arrived splendidly. Under the eyes of many VIP guests, the new piece was convinced in front of 500 visitors. This was also due to the actors, whose “best form” was expressly emphasized by WDR sports reporter legend Manni Breuckmann. Schalke Eurofighter Ingo Anderbrügge took the same line and praised the “excellent interplay of the ensemble”.
The statements of the long-standing DFB referee Thorsten Kinhöfer are likely to be regarded as the greatest compliment. The Moon Palace has taken him back to his active time, he said after the premiere. And this is exactly one of the main goals of the Volkstheater. The proximity to the guests should necessarily be given, as Christian Stratmann, principal and founder of the Volkstheater, explains.
“For us, it is important that we find pieces that speak to people from the soul,” says Stratmann. Due to the geographical location, there is automatically no way around the most popular ball sport. “We are here in the middle of the Ruhr area between Schalke and Dortmund – here everything is football,” says Stratmann. It was the idea of founding director Thomas Rech to implement a piece on amateur football based on the well-known comedy “Der zerbrochene Krug” by Heinrich von Kleist.
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Here, the plot mainly refers to FC Hinter-Marl, a fictitious amateur club that complains of damage to its only trophy in the club’s history. In clarifying who caused the rupture, among other things, a fictitious DFB official helps. For Christian Stratmann, it is astonishing “how Kleist can be transferred to the football milieu”.
The focus is on entertainment. The spectators should have fun and that is also the case. “I was blown away. The piece is so funny,” the principal and “citizen of the Ruhr area” passes on his own impressions. Every single anecdote associated with the trophy is unpacked. Several times sentences are started with “Do you remember?” But the theatre man also says: “You laugh, but you also get a message.” Accordingly, it is important to the Moon Palace to provide the pieces with depth and to integrate serious themes.
The actors are ideally suited to practice this play entertainingly on stage. “Most of them are real football fans. You can see that too. They play full of passion,” says the principal. A previous play also had an influence on the decision to bring amateur football to the stage this time. Because the Mondpalast has already taken professional football to task with another piece. With Ronaldo & Julia (2002), in which the “forbidden love” between Dortmund fan Julia and Schalke fan Ronaldo is the common thread, the Volkstheater landed a great success. In general, the Moon Palace is known for its proximity to football.
