Theatergruppe Simmern Ww. e.V.

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Theater-Gruppe Simmern/Ww. e.V. (also Theatergruppe Simmern/Ww. e.V.) is an amateur theatre group based in Simmern in the Westerwald, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Founded in 1966, it stages mainly comic full-length folk plays and farces (Schwänke), with some roles rendered in the local Moselle Franconian dialect.

History

Amateur theatre in Simmern predates the group. The local gymnastics club, founded in January 1910 and active until about 1959, staged one play a year, usually at Christmas or in Lent. After the Second World War plays were performed by the Catholic youth, among them in 1947 two plays the chronicle attributes to Pedro Calderón de la Barca; in the 1950s the village schoolteacher directed productions, some of them performed by the church choir. After the gymnastics club ceased its activities in 1959, a lay players' group continued from 1960 to 1966 with an annual performance on Boxing Day, including the drama Christenverfolgung in Mexiko oder das Gesetz des Antichrist in 1963.

On 5 April 1966 eight theatre enthusiasts met at the inn "Zur Bauernschänke" and formally founded the Laienspiel-Theater-Gruppe Simmern/Westerwald. A trained actor from Kadenbach subsequently took over direction and also acted. Rehearsals and performances took place in a hall belonging to a local inn, heated by a stove for which the members brought firewood. After the death of a player in an accident during rehearsals in 1981, performances stopped, mainly for lack of male actors.

In autumn 1996 the last active member initiated a one-act play at the harvest-festival ball of the Simmern music society, and the group was reactivated afterwards. At a general meeting on 19 April 1997 a statute was adopted and entry in the register of associations at the Montabaur district court was applied for; since then the association has been named Theater-Gruppe Simmern/Ww. e.V.. The first full-length production after the reactivation followed in autumn 1998. From 1998 to 2001 the plays were rehearsed without a director; from 2002 to 2007 an actress directed, from 2008 to 2012 a freelance director born in Simmern coached the productions, and in 2014 another actress took over direction. The group celebrated its 50th anniversary in April 2016 with Blaues Blut und Erbsensuppe. Performances paused for four years after 2019 and resumed in 2023 with a new staging of Es ist was los auf dem Hungerhof, first performed in 2009.

Repertoire

Since the reactivation the group has staged mostly full-length comedies, from 1998 to 2001 each at the end of October or beginning of November. By 2025 it had performed 23 full-length folk plays and farces since the reactivation. In 2006 it additionally staged a Christmas and New Year's Eve production, Jeder braucht seinen Schutzengel, for which the Bavarian-dialect original Der bayerische Protectulus was translated into standard German and then into the local Westerwald dialect by the players; it was the only production cast entirely with dialect speakers. Between 2000 and 2004 a youth group staged four plays. Productions under the first director after 1966 also included Auf dass wir nicht schuldig werden (Peter Hardt), Der Meineidbauer (Ludwig Anzengruber), Sturm im Maßkrug (Hans Strasser-Lang), Boeing, Boeing (Marc Camoletti) and Hände hoch, Miss Kitty (Alfred Schmid); the lay group of 1960–1966 had played Die Geier Wally after Wilhelmine von Hillern.

Productions (incomplete)

Year	Title	Author	Notes
1966	Der Meisterboxer	Otto Schwartz and Carl Mathern	Founding year
1968	Der Dorflump	Herman Haas
1969	Das Geheimnis vom Steinkreuz
1972	Der Herr in Grau
1976	Hilfe, ich liebe einen Gammler	Hans Lellis
1996	Die Pferdekur		One-act play at the harvest-festival ball
1997	Toni und seine drei Frauen		One-act play at the harvest-festival ball
1998	Maximilian der Starke	Wilfried Reinehr
1999	Der Mehlwurm	Wilfried Reinehr
2000	Theater auf der Küchenbank	Renate Reuß
2000	Gespenster ab ins Gurkenglas	Karin Hüttenhofer	Youth production
2001	Dümmer geht's nimmer	Wilfried Reinehr
2001	Tote schmieren keine Brote	Dirk Salzbrunn	Youth production
2002	Bommels verrückte Heimkehr	Dieter Adam
2002	Verrückt diese Irdlinge	Franzi Klingelhöfer	Youth production
2003	Die Gedächtnislücke	Bernd Gombold
2004	Katzenjammer	Bernd Gombold
2004	Chaos GmbH und Co. – wir stellen um auf Computer	Frank M. Ziegler	Youth production
2005	Dem Himmel sei Dank	Bernd Gombold
2006	Nichts als Kuddelmuddel	Jürgen Wörner	Autumn production
2006	Jeder braucht seinen Schutzengel	Peter Landstorfer	Original title Der bayerische Protectulus; Christmas and New Year's Eve production
2007	Nur Zoff mit dem Stoff	Bernd Gombold
2008	Frauenpower	Bernd Gombold
2009	Es ist was los auf dem Hungerhof	Annette and Elke Döhmen
2010	Polnische Wirtschaft	Bernd Gombold
2011	Einer spinnt immer	Wilfried Reinehr
2012	Rosenkrieg nach Paragrafen	Erika Kapeller	World premiere
2014	Handylust und Handyfrust	Wolfgang Bräutigam
2016	Blaues Blut und Erbsensuppe	Dieter Adam	50th anniversary
2017	Die Gedächtnislücke	Bernd Gombold	Revival of the 2003 production
2018	Zwei wie Hund und Katz	Bernd Gombold
2019	Alles bestens geregelt!	Bernd Gombold
2023	Es ist was los auf dem Hungerhof	Annette and Elke Döhmen	Revival of the 2009 production
2024	Ach, du fröhliche!	Bernd Gombold
2026	Außer Kontrolle		Announced

Venue

The group performs in the Haus Siebenborn at the end of Siebenbornstraße in Simmern. Donations from the group in 2018 went towards expanding the sound and lighting equipment of the village community hall, which is also used by other Simmern clubs.

Organisation

Besides its annual productions, the group ran a youth group between 2000 and 2004, from which several players later joined the adult ensemble. In 2018 it donated 500 euros to the volunteer first responders of the German Red Cross local branch in Augst.