theater 53

Memorial plaque to the theater 53 at the Landwehr in Eilbek.

The theater 53 was a small theater in Hamburg , which was known for its avant-garde repertoire and thus stood out from the big Hamburg theaters. Mainly plays by contemporary dramatists were played .

history

The Zombeck air protection tower in Rothenbaumchaussee , where theater 53 was initially located.

The theater, named after the founding year 1953, was founded by Uwe Friedrichsen , Markus Scholz and Karl-Ulrich Meves in a barrack on Rothenbaumchaussee . Expelled from the barrack by the construction police , they then performed in the emptied fire extinguishing basin next to it and shortly afterwards found a venue in an air raid shelter , also in Rothenbaumchaussee. Meves von Scholz took over the management of the original private theater with 60 seats at the time. Meves ran the theater until it closed in late 1965.

In January 1959 the theater moved to the basement of a restaurant at Landwehr  25. The cellar theater accessible through the restaurant (not to be confused with the Hamburg cellar theater ) was only recognizable from the outside through the nameplate attached to the facade of the multi-storey building. The auditorium, which was predominantly red and gray, had 129 seats, which, as in Rothenbaumchaussee, were divided into two sectors flanking the stage. Due to the rather remote new location, despite the unchanged program, the theater was no longer able to match the audience successes in the air raid shelter on Rothenbaumchaussee, was only sold out at premieres and had to be subsidized with public money.

The theater finally closed its doors in late 1965 for financial reasons. Meve's search for donors was unsuccessful. He wanted to put the theater back in a more exposed location.

Productions (selection)

Many productions had their Hamburg premiere in theater 53. Over 70 pieces have been played in the twelve years of its existence, including The Lessons by Eugène Ionesco , The Maids of Jean Genet , Night with Guests by Peter Weiss , Les Bâtisseurs d'Empire ou Le Schmürz by Boris Vian , Fear and Misery of the Third Reich by Bertolt Brecht , Zwei Schwarze Mäuse by Dieter Waldmann , The dumb servant by Harold Pinter (German version by Willy H. Thiem), Monsieur Quinot by François Paliard , Der kleine Herr Nagel by Hermann Moers , Oh father, poor father, mother hung you in the closet and I'm sick of Arthur Lee Kopit and August of Raymond Castans .

Further use of the basement rooms at the Landwehr

In March 1966, the actor and director Günter Langer from Düsseldorf opened the “Theater an der Landwehr” in the basement. By May of that year, Langer could no longer pay any fees and had to close the theater again.

Then the Baden-Baden wholesale merchant and theater entrepreneur Heinz Mehnert took over the premises and opened a so-called " Intimate Theater ", which was taken over by his partner Curt Timm after the bankruptcy of his Munich Schaubühnen GmbH and had to close in June 1967 for financial reasons.

In 1969 Günter Adam reopened a "Theater an der Landwehr" in the basement. Die Katakombe Frankfurt also gave guest performances there rent-free with Brecht was here - wow after the troupe received little support in Frankfurt. The piece was sold out for months.

In 1971 there was "The small theater and concert studio" in the basement at Landwehr 25.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Uwe Friedrichsen , Deutsches Filmhaus .
2. ↑ New in the theater collection: Bocksboys stage sets , State and University Library Hamburg , April 12, 2007.
3. ^ ^{A b} Looking for guardian angels: Hamburg cellar theater needs patrons , Die Zeit, No. 43, October 23, 1964.
4. ↑ ^{a b} A look ahead into the new `theater 53 'at the Landwehr , Hamburger Abendblatt, January 7, 1959.
5. ↑ The `` theater 53 '' closes at the end of 65, Hamburger Abendblatt, December 2, 1965.
6. ↑ An obituary for the `theater 53 ': painful loss for Hamburg No space for stage experiments? Hamburger Abendblatt, December 3, 1965.
7. ^ One act in theater 53 , Hamburger Abendblatt, October 23, 1962.
8. ↑ Theater im `theater 53 ' , Hamburger Abendblatt, March 5, 1965.
9. ^ Start of Hamburg's new theater season with young artists , Hamburger Abendblatt, August 19, 1961.
10. ^ New landlord at the Landwehr , Hamburger Abendblatt, March 11, 1966.
11. ↑ Das Theater an der Landwehr , Hamburger Abendblatt, May 4, 1966.
12. ^ Intimes Theater had to close , Hamburger Abendblatt, June 23, 1967.
13. ^ A manufacturer wanted to play theater , Hamburger Abendblatt, June 13, 1967.
14. ^ Start with dance , Hamburger Abendblatt, September 6, 1969.
15. ↑ The latest from the world of the stage , Hamburger Abendblatt, October 4, 1969.
16. ^ Again `` Katakombe '' , Hamburger Abendblatt, April 14, 1970.
17. ↑ Jürgen Richter: Frankfurter Theater Katakombe: Good mood in bad times , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 11, 2009.
18. ^ The small theater and concert studio , Hamburger Abendblatt, August 19, 1971.

Coordinates: 53 ° 33 '44.5 "  N , 10 ° 2' 10.7"  E