This year's THEATERSOMMER Idar-Oberstein includes three special events: 'Don Quixote' by Chawwerusch Theater, the production 'Dreamer' by Theater Anu and the concert 'Carmina Burana & Spark'. Lord Mayor Frank Frühauf, cultural officer Annette Strohm and former district cantor Roland Lißmann presented the events on the premises of OIE AG.
OIE board member Andreas Berg welcomed the guests and described the THEATERSOMMER as an important component of the 'Idar-Oberstein leuchtet' cultural festival. "As a regional energy supplier, we are delighted to be able to make a contribution to strengthening our region in cultural terms by supporting the festival."
Lord Mayor Frank Frühauf is delighted that after the huge success of the gem-cutting and goldsmiths' market with street theater last weekend, the next highlight is just around the corner. "With the THEATERSOMMER, our cultural department is always opening up new venues, such as the city park this year." The mayor also thanked the sponsors - in addition to the OIE, these are the Kreissparkasse Birkenfeld, the Effgen company, the Bürkle Foundation and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate - for their many years of support for the festival. "Our citizens and out-of-town guests also benefit from this solidarity, because without support we would not be able to realize these events."
The municipal cultural officer then presented the productions in more detail. It starts on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at 8 pm at Oberstein Castle with 'Don Quixote - An Invitation to Failure'. The production by Danilo Fioriti, freely adapted from the classic by Miguel de Cervantes, was actually conceived for the Rhineland-Palatinate Summer of Culture 2024 under the motto 'Compass Europe: Stars of the South'. However, the event in Idar-Oberstein was canceled due to illness and will now be rescheduled. "But the novel by Miguel de Cervantes from the 17th century also fits in well with this year's Kultursommer motto 'Forever young? This is because the most famous book in Spanish literature was voted the 'best book in the world' by a hundred well-known writers in 2002, organized by the Nobel Institute in Oslo. It revolves around the timeless big questions of reality and truth and the interplay between appearance and reality. It is more topical today than it has been for a long time. The Chawwerusch Theater brings this important work of world literature to the stage in its usual style as a lively, entertaining play. With imagination, music and a large ensemble, visitors are treated to an evening full of humor, melancholy and magic.
"Many people have asked me when Theater Anu will be coming to Idar-Oberstein again," explained the cultural officer, "and now the time has come." The ensemble from Berlin will present its production 'Dreamer - Am nächsten Morgen bist du ein anderer' on Friday and Saturday, August 29 and 30, 2025, both at 9 pm in the Idar-Oberstein city park. Thanks to its previous guest performances as part of THEATERSOMMER, Theater Anu has many fans in the region. With its powerful visual, light and sound installations, the ensemble creates its very own worlds. Dreamer' is not a classic play, but a walk-in theater experience in the open air. A 360-degree theater without a predetermined viewing direction, the audience moves between different locations and is invited to actively follow the characters. 'Dreamer' is a play about freedom - and the question of whether we can endure it at all. It is about control and surrender, about closeness and distance. About what we try to suppress - and what perhaps wants to get out for precisely this reason.
"What 'Don Qujote' is to literature, 'Carmina Burana' is to music," said Roland Lißmann, drawing parallels between the two THEATERSOMMER productions. The former district cantor is the overall director of the third event and has based it closely on the Kultursommer motto. The production 'Carmina Burana & Spark' can be heard and seen on Sunday, September 28, 2025, at 6 p.m. in the Idar-Oberstein Municipal Theater. Carl Orff's monumental piece is often performed and there is therefore a risk that the audience will think "again", says Lißmann. He also performed Carmina Burana a few years ago at the Idar-Oberstein Exhibition Center. "But the current production has its very own accent." This is because the Spark band - which comes from the classical and baroque periods, but also uses elements of rock and pop music - creates an extraordinary musical experience between tradition and modernity. The choral cycle, in turn, will be performed in a classical setting with intergenerational choirs, soloists, two pianos and a percussion ensemble.
- More information about the plays can be found at www.idar-oberstein.de/kultur. Tickets are available at www.ticket-regional.de and at the affiliated ticket agencies.