Kabarett "DIE ARCHE"

In the artist's words:

The cabaret "Die Arche" was founded in late autumn 1979 - at the same time as the Erfurt Puppet Theatre - as a new division of the Erfurt Municipal Stages by the then artistic director Bodo Witte,and members of the Erfurt drama ensemble had already been regularly performing their own cabaret programs on the "small stage" for years. The spiritus rector was Karlheinz Welzel, who was also the first director of the new ensemble. As demand far exceeded the cabaret's offerings and the actors' capabilities, several new people were hired in 1979/80. These included Brigitte von der Trenck, Christina Emig-Könning, Wolfgang Lauer, Wolfgang Junge and Ulf Annel, who was head of the cabaret section from 1981, as well as guitarist and bassist Christian Wiedenhövt.

After initially rolling and undulating, the journey of the "Arche" calmed down. The ensemble also survived the turmoil of the fall of communism very well. The number of members shrank considerably over the years and with decreasing financial support from the city and state.

Since the mid-1990s, the "Thüringer Satiretheater und Kabarett DIE ARCHE e.V." has been responsible for the cabaret.

The stage crew - with the support of changing guests - performs around 280 shows a year, most of them in the "Theater Waidspeicher" in the center of Erfurt - a theater building that is also used by the Puppentheater Erfurt, which has only been called "Theater Waidspeicher" since 2009.

The cabaret "Die Arche" offers humorous satirical programs, most of which are written by its own ensemble, but which also include texts by authors from Halle, Leipzig, Münster, Cologne, Berlin and other German cities from East and West. Since 2000, Harald Richter and Fernando Blumenthal from the - now closed - Schauspiel Erfurt have alternated as directors.

Since the founding of the cabaret "Die Arche", 2-3 new programs have been staged every year, so that there have been and still are 8-10 changing plays on the program.

This content has been machine translated.