View source for Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting

{{AIGenerated}}
{{DynamicInfobox|qid=Q122798285}}

The '''Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting e. V.''' (FSG) is an amateur theatre association in [[wikipedia:Bad Kötzting|Bad Kötzting]] in the [[wikipedia:Cham (district)|district of Cham]], [[wikipedia:Upper Palatinate|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.<ref name="verein" />

== 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.<ref name="verein" />

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 [[wikipedia:Hugo von Hofmannsthal|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 [[wikipedia:Bayerischer Rundfunk|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.<ref name="verein" /><ref name="team" />

== Repertoire ==
Productions of the Waldfestspiele since 2008, each usually running over several summers, are:<ref name="verein" /><ref name="prod" />

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Productions (incomplete)
! Years !! Title !! Author !! Notes
|-
| 2008–2010 || ''Die Bettleroper'' || || Bavarian musical; the ensemble's first production with singing and dancing<ref name="verein" />
|-
| 2011 || ''Jedermann'' || after Hugo von Hofmannsthal || Modern interpretation<ref name="verein" />
|-
| 2012 || ''Das Haus der Bernarda'' || Johannes Reitmeier and Barbara Schöneberger after [[wikipedia:Federico García Lorca|Federico García Lorca]] || ''[[wikipedia:The House of Bernarda Alba|The House of Bernarda Alba]]''
|-
| 2013–2014 || ''Schinderhannes'' || Johannes Reitmeier and Barbara Schöneberger after [[wikipedia:Carl Zuckmayer|Carl Zuckmayer]] ||
|-
| 2015–2017 || ''Ein Sommernachtstraum'' || Johannes Reitmeier and Barbara Schöneberger after [[wikipedia:William Shakespeare|William Shakespeare]] ||
|-
| 2018–2019 || ''Lysistrata in Bayern. Der Weiberstreik'' || Johannes Reitmeier and Thomas Stammberger after [[wikipedia:Aristophanes|Aristophanes]] || New version of an earlier production
|-
| 2022–2023 || ''Da Asch'nmo – Ein Zaubermärchen'' || Sascha Edenhofer and Barbara Schöneberger after [[wikipedia:Ferdinand Raimund|Ferdinand Raimund]] || First production after the COVID-19 break
|-
| 2024–2025 || ''Die Weber'' || Barbara Schöneberger and Sascha Edenhofer after [[wikipedia:Gerhart Hauptmann|Gerhart Hauptmann]] || ''[[wikipedia:The Weavers|The Weavers]]''
|-
| 2026–2027 || ''Don Quijote'' || Sascha Edenhofer and Sara Herbst after [[wikipedia:Miguel de Cervantes|Miguel de Cervantes]] || 2027 season 24 July – 7 August<ref name="home" />
|}

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="verein">[https://www.waldfestspiele.de/der-verein/index.html Der Verein – Geschichte der Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting e. V.], Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting e. V., retrieved 17 October 2026. [https://web.archive.org/web/20260609234855/https://www.waldfestspiele.de/der-verein/index.html Archived] on 9 June 2026.</ref>
<ref name="team">[https://www.waldfestspiele.de/hinter-den-kulissen/index.html Hinter den Kulissen], Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting e. V., retrieved 17 October 2026. [https://web.archive.org/web/20261020054640/https://www.waldfestspiele.de/hinter-den-kulissen/index.html Archived] on 20 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="prod">[https://www.waldfestspiele.de/produktionen/index.html Produktionen seit 1988], Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting e. V., retrieved 17 October 2026. [https://web.archive.org/web/20261020054822/https://www.waldfestspiele.de/produktionen/index.html Archived] on 20 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="home">[https://www.waldfestspiele.de/ Waldfestspiele Bad Kötzting auf dem Ludwigsberg], Festspielgemeinschaft Kötzting e. V., retrieved 17 October 2026. [https://web.archive.org/web/20260622121154/https://waldfestspiele.de/ Archived] on 22 June 2026.</ref>
</references>