On the day of Hannah Arendt’s death in December 1975, a young girl appears to her. The girl is also called Hannah and has a familiar face. She disturbs the famous philosopher, who needs to concentrate on her work. So big Hannah takes little Hannah to the theatre in order to better explain her philosophy.
You need people to build a story. And you need a story to build the world…
This theatre adaptation of the book by Marion Muller-Colard does not veil the threats that keep weighing upon our world, nor does it occult closed-mindedness or doublespeak. It also points to the catastrophe that forced Hannah Arendt, who was Jewish, to flee Nazi Germany. The performance calls on Arendt’s certainty that freedom is something fragile that needs to be fought for, again and again, and relies on her unwavering confidence in all children, considered both unpredictable and carriers of endless possibilities.
Le petit théâtre de Hannah Arendt received the Minister of Culture’s prize of the French Community of Belgium 2019.
This performance proves that it is possible to make theatre that simultaneously and equivalently works for children and adults.
based on the children’s book of the same name by Marion Muller-Colard (text) & Clémence Pollet (illustration)
cast Wellington Barros, Karen Bentfeld / Annika Serong, Galia De Backer / Ninon Perez, Roland Schumacher
director Ania Michaelis
authors Ania Michaelis & Felix Ensslin
adaptation of the French text Galia De Backer
scenography and masks Céline Leuchter
lighting Clemens Hörlbacher
sound Christopher Hafer
costumes Petra Kather
music director Wellington Barros
videography Conny Klar
stage manager Céline Leuchter / Joé Keil
production assistant Susi Muller
dramaturgy Felix Ensslin & Sascha Wolters
AGORA artistic director Kurt Pothen
production AGORA Theater
co-production COMEDIA Theater Köln, Mierscher Kulturhaus, TAK Theater Liechtenstein, Luaga & Losna, Hannah Arendt Tage 2019, Theater im Pavillon, Theaterwerkstatt Hannover
with the support of the German-speaking Community, the Province of Liège, the Senate Department for Culture and Europe − Berlin, the city of Saint Vith, La montagne magique
photos Conny Klar, Inès Heinen
