Shockheaded Peter (Struwwelpeter)

SHOCKHEADED PETER

Junk Opera based on motifs from “Der Struwwelpeter” by Heinrich Hoffmann
A musical by The Tiger Lillies, Julian Crouch, and Phelim McDermott
Music by Martyn Jacques

Paulinchen, Struwwelpeter, Zappelphilipp, and Suppenkaspar all have one thing in common—they’re misfits. Heinrich Hoffmann, a neurologist at a children’s hospital, wrote these eerie stories in 1844; since then, they’ve been adapted, parodied, and reinterpreted countless times. This is also true of the British rock band “The Tiger Lillies,” whose successful junk opera “Shockheaded Peter”—with its offbeat humor and rousing songs—has since been performed worldwide. In this production, it is the grotesque characters themselves who are delightfully anarchic, asking with boundless imagination: “What becomes of a child who lacks affection?” 

The ensemble invites you to a celebration of the colorful, the loud, and the wild, directed by our artistic director Milena Paulovics and accompanied by a four-piece live band under the musical direction of Jochen Kilian.