Actually, Zeus, the greatest of all Olympian bazis, has enough to do: he has to rule Olympus and keep his jealous wife Hera happy. In addition, the father of the gods likes to sire demigods and demigodesses on a regular basis – childbearing temptations run around enough in the mortal world. But existential danger looms: Olympus and its inhabitants are beginning to dissolve, because mankind has apparently forgotten the gods, and that ultimately means their downfall.
“Dämmergötterung” is the name of the new play by the Munich Volkssängerbühne (MVB), which will premiere at the end of January in the small theater in Haar. Unlike the Faustian drama “Dees perpetually Spui von Tod und Deife”, which the traditional amateur ensemble brought to the stage last January, the current work penned by MVB regular author Roland Beier is again a bizarre-crazy comedy that explores the incompatibility themed by old gods with new technology. In order to stop the impending end, Zeus listens to the advice of his brother Hades. He refers to the “Internet” and social media. One must move with the times and take care of humanity in a modern way. In the underworld, digitization has apparently already worked wonders.
Author Roland Beier used his own “Handycaps” in the piece
Of course, the Bavarian-Greek father of the gods isn’t all that comfortable with the beautiful new digital world, and he doesn’t understand smart phones and the “book face” either. “Many of my digital ‘Handycaps’ were processed here,” explains Roland Beier with a wink. Born in Unterhachinger, who lives in Haar with his wife Bärbel Beier – who takes on the role of Iokaste in the current production – he is a playwright with an exuberant imagination and a special sense of humor. It’s maybe not always very subtle and sometimes a little banging, but definitely beyond the Bavarian-timbreed silliness that characterizes other dialect ensembles. “As a running gag, Oedipus keeps running through the picture looking for his mother and, of course, Jocasta, his mother, who is constantly fleeing from him,” says Beier, describing one of his ideas. You can also look forward to the “almost perfect love story between Eros and Psyche”.
What also characterizes the Munich Volkssängerbühne, of which the Kleines Theater Haar has been the parent company for several years, in addition to the special enthusiasm of its performers: the great costumes tailored by Anna di Buono, an original production, an ambitious stage design and one or the other musical interlude. After the break or restriction caused by the pandemic, an old tradition is likely to be revived in 2023: it will probably be possible for spectators to enjoy food and drinks at their seat before and during the performance of the divine comedy.
Tickets are available through Reservix or through the website of the stage (www.mvb-ev.de) or at the box office. The premiere will take place on Saturday, January 21, in the Small Theater in Haar, starting at 8 p.m. There are other performances in Haar in January and February, mainly on Fridays and Saturdays. In addition, MVB will be giving a guest performance of “Dämmergötterung” in the Unterhachinger Kubiz on February 18th.