Andersens Erzählungen (ANDERSEN’S STORIES)

One stormy night in 1836, Hans Christian Andersen arrives uninvited at the home of his childhood friend Edvard Collin, who is to marry his fiancée Henriette the next day. Andersen has travelled through the wind and the rain to once again confess his love for Edvard. The family provide a frosty reception and the groom himself is out celebrating his last night as a bachelor. Only Henriette feels attracted to the unconventional charm of their guest, who lives in a fantasy world continually surrounded by characters from his own fairy tales. He magically transforms a sober room into a sparkling underwater landscape and castles of otherworldly beauty. And he starts telling his friend’s fiancée the fairy tale of The Little Mermaid: burning with love for a Prince, she wishes to become human and is willing to sacrifice her voice and her home to do so – risking her life.

In this piece of music theatre, director Philipp Stölzl, composer Jherek Bischoff and librettist Jan Dvořák merge the drama of the Danish writer’s unrequited love in the prudish Biedermeier period with the fantasy universe of his literary works, portraying how Andersen reflects himself in his most famous fairy tale character through poetic imagery and moving music. 

Following «The Inheritance» by Matthew Lopez – invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen 2023 – and «James Brown Wore Curlers» by Yasmina Reza, director Philipp Stölzl now presents his third work for the Residenztheater. «Andersens Erzählungen» (Andersen’s Stories) is his first collaboration with the American artist Jherek Bischoff, who has previously composed for the Kronos Quartet, David Byrne and Robert Wilson.