Passionsspielgemeinschaft Scheinfeld
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The Passionsspielgemeinschaft Scheinfeld (PSG), now also appearing as Theater Scheinfeld, is an amateur theatre association in Scheinfeld in the district of Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim, Middle Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. It is best known for the open-air Große Schwarzenberger Passion, a Passion play staged about every four years at Schwarzenberg Castle and the neighbouring Franciscan friary; it also stages religious and secular plays, a studio theatre and a youth theatre.[1][2]
| Founded | 1991 |
|---|---|
| Members | 140 (as of 2025) |
| Member of | Verband Bayerischer Amateurtheater |
| Location | |
| Headquarters | Scheinfeld |
| Country | Germany |
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| Links | |
| Website | passionsspielgemeinschaft-scheinfeld.de |
| Social media | Facebook · Instagram |
History
The Nuremberg directors Elisabeth and Karl-Heinz Guhr moved to Scheinfeld in 1991 and set out to found a theatre group devoted mainly to religious drama. Schwarzenberg Castle, with its medieval buildings, and the nearby Franciscan friary seemed ideal for an open-air Passion play with scenes spread over castle and friary, through which the audience walks.[1][3] The Guhrs wrote the text with the Franciscan Father Leopold Mader, drawing on earlier Passion plays and the Gospels. With the support of the Bildungshaus Kloster Schwarzenberg, the town of Scheinfeld and both churches, a non-profit association was founded in 1993.[1][2]
The first Große Schwarzenberger Passion was performed in 1994; because of the strong response it was repeated in 1995, and since 1998 it has usually returned every four years in July.[1] In the years between, the group showed religious plays, and since 2015 increasingly secular plays, as open-air productions at the friary on the Schwarzenbergtag. With some of them it toured, for example on a trip to Assisi, Padua and South Tyrol with Franziskus von Assisi.[1][4] In Advent it organised Advent in Schwarzenberg with short plays and, until recently, a living nativity scene at the Scheinfeld Christmas market.[1]
The association's studio theatre, Scheinwerfer – Theater für Alle, performs with smaller casts, including murder mystery dinners such as Unter Geiern and Vino Mortis as well as stage and promenade plays.[1][5] The youth theatre SMASH, which grew out of the town's holiday programme, has worked with up to 20 young people since autumn 2023 and gave its first production, Die Schatzinsel after Robert Louis Stevenson, in 2024.[6]
Repertoire
Besides the Passion, the repertoire has consisted of plays about saints and religious figures, such as Anthony of Padua, Francis of Assisi, Saint Paul, Maximilian Kolbe, Elizabeth of Thuringia, Henry II and Cunigunde and Mother Teresa, and later of secular works and children's plays.[4]
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Große Schwarzenberger Passion I | First Passion play |
| 1995 | Große Schwarzenberger Passion II | |
| 1995 | Antonius von Padua | |
| 1996 | Der Drache von Schwarzenberg | |
| 1997 | Franziskus von Assisi | |
| 1998 | Große Schwarzenberger Passion III | |
| 1999 | Der heilige Paulus | |
| 1999 | Franziskusspielreise Italien | Tour to Italy |
| 2000 | Antonius 2000 | |
| 2001 | Maximilian Kolbe | |
| 2002 | Große Schwarzenberger Passion IV | |
| 2002 | Strandgeschichten | |
| 2003 | Die heilige Elisabeth von Thüringen | |
| 2004 | Antonius von Padua | |
| 2004 | Der Prinz mit den Eselsohren | |
| 2005 | Jedermann | after Hugo von Hofmannsthal |
| 2006 | Große Schwarzenberger Passion V | |
| 2007 | Heinrich und Kunigunde | |
| 2009 | Traum oder Leben – Herr oder Knecht | |
| 2010 | Große Schwarzenberger Passion VI | |
| 2011 | Mutter Teresa | |
| 2012 | Daniel – Babylon ist überall | |
| 2013 | Glaubenswege | |
| 2013 | Lauras Weihnachtstraum | |
| 2014 | Maximilian Kolbe | |
| 2015 | Immer wieder Insekten | |
| 2016 | Franziskus von Assisi | |
| 2017 | Leonore und der Mond | |
| 2018 | Große Schwarzenberger Passion VII | |
| 2018 | Im kalten Stall zu Bethlehem | |
| 2019 | Der Besuch der alten Dame | Friedrich Dürrenmatt; The Visit |
| 2019 | Da war was los in Bethlehem | |
| 2021 | Dornröschen | |
| 2022 | Große Schwarzenberger Passion VIII | |
| 2023 | Unter Geiern | Murder mystery dinner (Scheinwerfer) |
| 2023 | Die kleine Hexe | Scheinwerfer |
| 2024 | Jedermann | In cooperation with the Studiobühne Erlangen |
| 2024 | Die Schatzinsel | SMASH youth theatre; after Robert Louis Stevenson |
| 2025 | Weltenwanderer | SMASH; written by the young players and Tanja Jordan[6] |
| 2025 | Vino Mortis | Murder mystery dinner (Scheinwerfer) |
| 2025 | Das Chaos im Stall | SMASH; Christmas play at the friary |
| 2026 | Liebe, Tod, Teufel | Schwarzenberg Castle, July 2026; with SMASH |
Venue
The Passion play and the summer open-air productions take place at Schwarzenberg Castle and the Franciscan friary of Schwarzenberg near Scheinfeld; the scenes are spread over both sites.[1][4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Historie, Passionsspielgemeinschaft Scheinfeld, retrieved 20 October 2026. Archived on 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Passionsspiele, Passionsspielgemeinschaft Scheinfeld, retrieved 20 October 2026. Archived on 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Verein, Passionsspielgemeinschaft Scheinfeld, retrieved 20 October 2026. Archived on 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Rückblicke, Passionsspielgemeinschaft Scheinfeld, retrieved 20 October 2026. Archived on 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Scheinwerfer – Theater für Alle, Passionsspielgemeinschaft Scheinfeld, retrieved 20 October 2026. Archived on 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Smash – Jugendtheater, Passionsspielgemeinschaft Scheinfeld, retrieved 20 October 2026. Archived on 21 October 2026.