Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting
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The Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting e. V. (FSG) is an amateur theatre association in Bad Kötzting in the district of Cham, Upper Palatinate, Germany. Founded in 1989, it runs the Waldfestspiele, an open-air summer theatre on the Ludwigsberg that presents classics of world literature in Bavarian dialect (Klassiker auf Bairisch), and performs the traditional Pfingstlspiel at Whitsun.[1]
| Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting e. V. | |
| Founded | 1989 |
|---|---|
| Members | 250 (as of 2026) |
| Legal form | Registered association (eingetragener Verein) |
| Member of | Verband Bayerischer Amateurtheater |
| Location | |
| Headquarters | Bad Kötzting |
| Country | Germany |
|
| |
| Links | |
| Website | waldfestspiele.de |
| Social media | Facebook · Instagram |
History
Theatre in Kötzting goes back to the festival play Pfingstritt-Ehr, performed with interruptions from 1949 to 1993, about the history of the Kötzting Whitsun ride, a mounted procession documented since 1412. It was briefly replaced in 1996 by a new version of the Whitsun legend written and directed by Johannes Reitmeier, and since 1998 the group has performed Reitmeier's Pfingstlspiel every year, a street play about the old spring custom of driving out winter.[1]
Looking for a venue for summer theatre, the founders found a forest clearing around the Ludwigsturm on the Ludwigsberg in 1988 and built the open-air stage that is still in use; the first production was a Bavarian Jedermann after Hugo von Hofmannsthal in a version by Oskar Weber. From the start the directors Johannes Reitmeier and Thomas Stammberger pursued the concept of "classics in Bavarian". Their Faust after Goethe attracted attention beyond the region and was recorded in full by Bayerischer Rundfunk in 1992; adaptations of Schiller's Die Räuber, Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, Büchner's Woyzeck, Aristophanes' Lysistrata and Shakespeare's Macbeth followed. Reitmeier directed the productions until 2019; since 2022 Sascha Edenhofer has been artistic director, together with the dramaturge Sara Herbst. According to the association, well over 100,000 spectators have attended the Waldfestspiele, and it has grown into one of the largest theatre groups in the district, with more than 250 members and almost 60 active players.[1][2]
Repertoire
Productions of the Waldfestspiele since 2008, each usually running over several summers, are:[1][3]
| Years | Title | Author | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–2010 | Die Bettleroper | Bavarian musical; the ensemble's first production with singing and dancing[1] | |
| 2011 | Jedermann | after Hugo von Hofmannsthal | Modern interpretation[1] |
| 2012 | Das Haus der Bernarda | Johannes Reitmeier and Barbara Schöneberger after Federico García Lorca | The House of Bernarda Alba |
| 2013–2014 | Schinderhannes | Johannes Reitmeier and Barbara Schöneberger after Carl Zuckmayer | |
| 2015–2017 | Ein Sommernachtstraum | Johannes Reitmeier and Barbara Schöneberger after William Shakespeare | |
| 2018–2019 | Lysistrata in Bayern. Der Weiberstreik | Johannes Reitmeier and Thomas Stammberger after Aristophanes | New version of an earlier production |
| 2022–2023 | Da Asch'nmo – Ein Zaubermärchen | Sascha Edenhofer and Barbara Schöneberger after Ferdinand Raimund | First production after the COVID-19 break |
| 2024–2025 | Die Weber | Barbara Schöneberger and Sascha Edenhofer after Gerhart Hauptmann | The Weavers |
| 2026–2027 | Don Quijote | Sascha Edenhofer and Sara Herbst after Miguel de Cervantes | 2027 season 24 July – 7 August[4] |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Der Verein – Geschichte der Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting e. V., Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting e. V., retrieved 17 October 2026. Archived on 9 June 2026.
- ↑ Hinter den Kulissen, Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting e. V., retrieved 17 October 2026. Archived on 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Produktionen seit 1988, Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting e. V., retrieved 17 October 2026. Archived on 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Waldfestspiele Bad Kötzting auf dem Ludwigsberg, Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting e. V., retrieved 17 October 2026. Archived on 22 June 2026.