Munich: Premiere of “Willkommen bei den Hartmanns” in the theater – Munich

One feels a little lost in the red plush ambience of the comedy in the Bayerischer Hof: 143 spectators in the 570-Stühle-Saal at the premiere of the adaptation of the hit movie “Willkommen bei den Hartmanns”, Simon Verhoeven’s satirical all-round look at the German “refugee crisis”. So it is only a good thing that Jochen Busses’ pre-recorded announcement encourages the brave crowd and wishes them a relaxing evening: All scientific studies, such as those of the Fraunhofer Institute, still show how insignificant the proportion of infections is in theaters. And the Rhinelander René Heinersdorff, who, after a tough struggle, replaced theater director Thomas Pekny, who had been criticized for months on account of allegations of abuse, remarked sarcastically in an advance phone call: “It’s not like the U- Paths would be crammed full “. Nevertheless, and as the theater manager of various boulevard theaters in Cologne, Düsseldorf and now also in Munich, he felt this more strongly: “The performances are allowed to take place – but the audience does not go because they are unsettled by the many warnings”.

With that the bridge to the performance would already have been completed: Because these Hartmanns are in fact insecure, even highly “confused”. Their newcomer, the Nigerian asylum seeker Diallo played by Derek Nowak, quickly realizes this with the clear view of the outsider. The family includes above all the wonderfully personable Saskia Vester as Geli Hartmann, a teacher who, after her retirement, finds support more in white wine bottles than in her husband, the surgeon Richard (Ralf Komorr). Despite his initial basic skepticism towards the refugee, he is actually quite okay, as Diallo observes, but “something is wrong with his face, it is getting younger and younger”. His wife accuses him of getting old, even if he turns himself into a younger version of himself, with facial paralysis, with Botox injections.

A rather unholy family where everyone is lonely in their own way

The well-to-do family, described by an old-fashioned hippie friend (Esther Kuhn) as “something from Bogenhausen”, is completed by two adult children who are also in difficult life situations: There is the permanent student daughter Sophie (very lovable: Julia Gröbl ) with a soft spot for “Psycho” guys and her brother Philipp (Thomas Stegherr), a business lawyer at risk of burnout who is in the middle of a “dirty divorce” and a big deal in Shanghai. It’s just stupid that his 15-year-old son Basti is bothering at school right now. This rebellious grandson is never visible in Peter M. Preissler’s staging, only audible: Jörg-Tim Wilhelm hovers with his drums above the actors in an imaginary attic and accompanies the action on the drums. A nice, but in places a bit overused director’s idea, when the music almost drowns out the pointedly staged exchange of blows.

How good that asylum seeker Diallo (Derek Nowak) is a carpenter. As such, he can repair not only birdhouses, but also Angelika’s (Saskia Vester) family.

(Photo: B. Lindenthaler / Imago Images)

So it’s more of an unholy family that Diallo gets into. But even if his diagnoses are rather simple – Sophie seems “already old” at 31 years of age and he asks her why she has no children – he gets to the heart of the mood of his host family. Each of them is “lonely”. To paraphrase Tolstoy: “All happy families are alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Anyone who knows the original film and also knows about the laws of boulevard theater naturally suspects that, despite some harsh exchanges of words, everything and everyone fits in harmoniously in the end – after all, Diallo is a refugee even a carpenter. The way to get there in John von Düffel’s stage version is a strong ensemble performance that actually manages to make the aforementioned circumstances forget in the most enjoyable way during the course of the evening. You only become aware of them again when you step out into the sleet after the performance: A bar where you could end the evening is no longer open.

Welcome to the Hartmanns, Comedy in the Bavarian Courtuntil January 9, 2022

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