28. March 2024

Premiere at the school centre: Who stole the baby Jesus?

Last Friday, the third to sixth classes of the Stetten School Centre were able to experience an impressive world premiere created especially for them: The Music workshop by music teacher Ilona Nóbik-Scheel designed, planned and rehearsed a Christmas play themselves over a three-month project period.

The play addresses the core idea of Christmas, the question of whether and when Jesus will return. The theological perspective of hope that is linked to this question is initially countered by Ms Nóbik-Scheel in her production in a humorous way: even her title, Who stole the baby Jesus?provides a few laughs. Even more hilarity ensues when a chorus of children keeps asking when the Christ Child is coming - but first the Easter Bunny (Ms Nóbik-Scheel hops across the stage in a bunny costume), then a witch (Janine Frommer), and finally King Herod (Niklas Frank), who runs away alone with the stolen baby Jesus, which only an angel (Christina Sieber) can wrest back from him.
The young viewers have a great time, and it is no coincidence that one or the other adult thinks of the parallel to the annual Christmas madness, which buries the meaning of the festival through hectic and consumerism and levels out its outstanding significance in comparison with other festivals of the year.

Christmas is community: Jesus with the children

Only when Jesus himself, portrayed by Andreas Fiebig (10.2), appears in the flesh and tells his life story, does the apparent chaos lead to an atmosphere of intimate community - symbolically, the children form a circle around him, becoming those who have experienced Jesus authentically and can pass on the meaning of his good news. Thus, for the final chord, everyone lights sparkling sparklers at the Christmas light, which rains down the glow of a Christmas star on the people.

Carry a light into the world: Jesus (Andreas Fiebig, centre) proclaims the good news of Christmas, which the Easter Bunny (Ms Nóbik-Scheel, centre) also passes on together with the "children of Jesus" - Robin Mägerle (standing on the left in the picture) carries the light into the auditorium.

Musically, Parabel really lets it rip - a sophisticated style mix of Rammstein's Quietly trickles the snow, Handel's Hallelujah, a piece from the Christmas Oratorio, Bryan Adam's Christmas Time and a self-composed and sung piece by Ms Nóbik-Scheel announce the omnipresence of a Christmas experience that is exemplarily condensed in Adam's Song, excellently sung live by Andreas Fiebig. The lyrics of the song, translated into German, are displayed at the back of the stage, flanked by two large Christmas pictures that depict the Music workshop himself. In the impatient wait for the real Christmas, the "Children of Jesus" even throw firecrackers onto the stage, which are only incapable of one thing: conjuring up Jesus, whose quietly sustained sounds announce that the miracle of Christmas does not take place in a big noise.

"It was unbelievable how many creative ideas the children had," Ms Nóbik-Scheel sums up the joy of working with the learning partners. Anyone who was not present at the premiere clearly missed out...

High praise for the performing skills goes to the learning partners of the music workshop:
From 5.1: Niklas Frank, Morena Kuci, Robin Mägerle, Christina Sieber, Krystian Sliva
From 5.2: Nico Ciliberto, Romeo Joachimi, Emma Kohlstetter, Flora Nemes, Sophie Sautter, Tim Steeger
From 6.1: Amalia Ibrahim, Norah Petrillo, Ariana Tökés, Nazira Traore
From 6.2: Pia Binger, Janine Frommer, Sophia Schulze

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