DS 12: A Captivating Production About the Future of “Putzstein Castle”

The title “Mörderstund ist ungesund” already hinted at it: This is about more than just the fate of a venerable building. This is about life—and, if things go wrong, even death! Twenty-five students brought a crime comedy by Christine Steinwasser to the stage—with many roles, some of which were played by two actors. With so much action, the audience had to pay close attention!

We’ve all been there: ex-wives can be quite demanding, and management consultants can be pretty creative. And when it comes to the future of a property—like Putzstein Castle in this case—there’s bound to be a wealth of opinions anyway. It was no different on this evening at the theater, where quite a few actors and actresses seemed to have found their roles and embodied them very well and convincingly. To make matters worse, the castle in question—around whose future the crime comedy revolved—was still inhabited at the time of the negotiations—by none other than patients with multiple personality disorder. The old building had, in fact, been used as a psychiatric sanatorium up until that point. One can almost sense that resistance to a change in use was stirring among the residents as well, and that plans of a completely different nature were being hatched… .

 

The murderer was always…

And wasn’t the gardener the count had hired, by virtue of his profession alone, well-suited to be… well, the one people usually look for in a mystery? A colleague of his was hired by the ex-wife. He, at the very least, was predestined to carry out his very special role.

The play playfully poked fun at a number of clichés, taking aim, for example, at the profession of management consultant and the many certifications associated with it. A play full of humor, in which the actors and actresses were able to successfully shorten the long passages of dialogue—which had been rehearsed to perfection—toward the end through slapstick interludes, without ever compromising the play’s clarity.

“We really enjoyed ourselves,” said Principal Björn Gemmer, summing up the evening, and he didn’t forget to thank DS teacher Dagmar Müller-Tesseraux for her dedication and professional actor Michael Köckritz for his active support.

It was the kind of theater night you’d love to attend if you enjoy funny scenes, quick-witted actors and actresses, and plenty of humor. You all did a great job!