One day, a snail sits on Anna’s doorknob. She quickly christens her Uli Sascha Chris and creates a cosy home for her in a shoebox. But despite her new pet, Anna’s life is chaotic. To the dismay of her friend Hannah, she’s always late for PE because no-one has woken her. And Anna also has to regularly get rid of so many bottles. Where are her parents? Why are they never seen? Even the pizza delivery guy notices that something’s off. He comes to Anna’s more often than to anyone else and usually leaves with much too little money paid from a piggy bank. What’s up with her parents, who she always claims are ill and can be heard clattering about in the kitchen?

Out in the garden, a chorus of snails watches and comments on the goings-on, closely followed by the professor on the ground floor who is on the hunt for these ‘wretched creatures’. But as the maelstrom of chaos around Anna’s parents threatens to intensify, the pizza boy, the professor and her friend Hannah are by her side.

Author Esther Becker succeeds in approaching the difficult topic of alcoholism in the family and shame with verbal ease. With great compassion, she provides the perspective of a child who is trying to maintain a sense of normality amidst unbounded chaos. And she shows how unassuming, understanding and supportive people from outside our circle of relatives can help us to cope with difficult family circumstances.

Recommended for ages eight and above

Premiere on 13/01/2024

Production Staff

Director: Anne Verena Freybott
Stage and Costume: Ilka Meier
Music: Rasmus Nordholt-Frieling
Dramaturg: Laura Mangels
Theatre education: Anke Weingarte

Bilder

Trailer

Pressestimme

„Ein fantastisches Theatererlebnis bietet das Kinderstück Das Leben ist ein Wunschkonzert – nicht nur den jungen Zuschauern. Lang anhaltender Applaus belohnte nach der Premiere im ausverkauften Studio des Theaters Oberhausen die beteiligten Akteure für ein Gesamtkunstwerk, das in Erinnerung bleibt.
Da stimmte einfach alles, was gelungenes Theater auszeichnet: überzeugendes Schauspiel mit Rollenwechseln in einem wandlungsfähigen Bühnenbild von Ilka Meier, das mit wenigen Mitteln großartige Effekte erzielt, passende musikalische Untermalung und – ganz wichtig – Esther Beckers spannende Geschichte zum Mitfiebern.
Thema ist eine schlimme, aber leider nicht seltene Wirklichkeit: Wie ergeht es Kindern, wenn ihre Eltern suchtkrank sind? Wer sich als Erwachsener dieses Thema nur schwer als Familien-Theaterstück vorstellen konnte, dem beweist dieses „Wunschkonzert“ das Gegenteil.” Gudrun Mattern, WAZ