"There are things you just have to do" says Alexander Beck, founder and director of Theater Alte Brücke, about the moment when he decided to bring the "smallest Off-Broadway theatre in the world" to life in Sachsenhausen. But it must simply have been fate that he found the premises for it, of all places, which were once home to the laundry for which his father delivered laundry as a teenager. And now the son is putting on a show here. And that goes down well. Theater Alte Brücke's second season was about 10 to 15% busier than its first season. The numbers the theater is posting are still more gray than black, but it hasn't made any losses so far.
Beck is particularly pleased that plays by American authors such as Stephen Adly Guirgis or Peter Akerman have been particularly well received by audiences. Because the heart of the self-confessed Broadway fan is also attached to these works. He also loves light comedy fare such as "Barefoot in the Park" and "Hole in the Head", which were shown last season. But his plan to show Frankfurt audiences a "path not yet trodden" in this country with young American theater seems to be working.
That's why the third year's program includes "Jesus Jumped in Front of the Subway," not just the final installment of Stephen Adly Guirgis' New York anthology. The first two plays - "The Scumbag in the Hat" and "Sister Rose" - are also coming back to the stage (both for three performances each, one of them on a weekend during the Stephen Adly Guirgis Festival scheduled for April 2018). Peter Akerman's long-running hit "Things You Shouldn't Say at Night," which has been performed on and off since TAB opened, is also coming back to the stage by popular demand.
What has distinguished the theatre so far is its versatility. And that doesn't change in the new season. For example, the season starts with a co-production between TAB and the theatre "Die Traumtänzer". Directed by Jörg Zick, the comedy "The truth and nothing but the truth" by Eric Assous will be staged. Between the years there will be a production of the celebrated comedy "Art" by Yasmina Reza. In addition to Dorian Wigand and Anselm Wittenstein, Lars Ruth, known to many as a mental magician, will also be on stage. As such he can be seen again this season, when he will present his new show "Der Seher" three times starting in October. There is also news from Franz Fischer, who has bid adieu to his revue and thus also to his partner in crime Nelson van Heuvel and will concentrate more on music in his new program.
The successful Kreisler evening, the Christmas satire "Ach, Du heilige" and some really exciting guest performances are also still on the programme. Once again, you can see that a lot of heart and soul and passion is invested here, not only by Alexander Beck and his colleagues Sabrina Faber and Jan Peter Nowak, but really by everyone involved in front of and behind the stage. A theatre in which it sometimes happens that one of the employees is responsible for admission, bar and technology on one evening and then also stands on the stage, that can also only work if all those involved here love the theatre. It only remains to hope that so much courage for versatility and so much passion will be supported financially at some point and will continue to find enough audience, so that this beautiful theater in Sachsenhausen will remain for us as long as possible.
<link https: www.theater-alte-bruecke.de _blank>All further information about the plays, the schedule and the tickets can be found HERE
