iris ter schiphorst

Mark Schulze

The Grüffelo is a lovable monster invented by the English children's author Julia Donaldson. But wait a minute: Strictly speaking, it is a cunning mouse who invents a shaggy creature with "fiery eyes", "knobbly knees" and "spikes on his back" in the book The Gruffalo, which has now been translated into over 25 languages - namely to protect himself from the other animals in the forest. When the fox, owl and snake's mouths water at the sight of the mouse, the cunning little animal tells them about a big, dangerous friend. And they all run away in fright. "But he doesn't even exist, the Gruffalo," the mouse has to laugh every time - until one day he crosses her path in the flesh. Because he does exist, the Gruffalo! At least in the imagination of Julia Donaldson and her illustrator Axel Scheffler. And he even has offspring, whose adventures the authors tell in the book Das Grüffelokind. Composer Iris ter Schiphorst, together with her colleague Stefan Lienenkämper, has turned both stories - Der Grüffelo and Das Grüffelokind - into a two-part piece of music theatre for children and adults, commissioned by the Education Department of the Berliner Philharmoniker. The Grüffelo, based on the story of the same name by Julia Donaldson, was premiered at the 4th Family Concert of the Berliner Philharmoniker on 19 June 2011 - in front of an audience that was not quiet as a mouse, but completely spellbound. Members and guests of the Scharoun Ensemble were also present.

It was as quiet as a mouse in the hall ..." This is how many reports of concerts for children and young people begin. In the case of the 4th Family Concert of the Berliner Philharmoniker, however, this beginning would be a cheat. The youngest members of the audience were far too excited to remain still and motionless in their seats. After all, they were eagerly awaiting their encounter with Grüffelo and his child - characters that many of the children already knew from books and who were now to play two leading roles in the family concert. However, the third leading role - and this brings us back to the beginning - was played by a small and not at all quiet mouse ...

das magazin September/October 2011, Petra Goldkuhle

And he does exist! An encounter with the Grüffelo Berliner Philharmoniker

The Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, which performed the score written for clarinet, horn, violin, cello, double bass and piano, and the Berlin puppet theatre "Hans Wurst Nachfahren", which was responsible for the scenic realisation - both formations were involved in the project from the very beginning, and even more: they actually brought the Grüffelo music to life. Members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, who had attended performances with their children at the "Hans Wurst Nachfahren" theatre on Winterfeldplatz in Schöneberg, suggested a collaboration with the puppeteers - and were met with an open door:
"Ever since we've been around," the theatre makers emphasise in the programme booklet for the Berliner Philharmoniker's family concert, "we've actually wanted to do a puppet theatre piece with music."
A wish that has now been fulfilled. The idea of making the adventures of Grüffelo and Grüffelokind the basis of a musical puppet theatre piece for children and their adult companions was also born during the first discussions between the Scharoun Ensemble and "Hans Wurst Nachfahren".
A choice with which the composer Iris ter Schiphorst was more than happy. When she was commissioned by the education department of the Berlin Philharmonie to write a children's piece for the two ensembles and read the books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, she was immediately taken with the charm and humour of the Grüffelo stories. And she was equally taken with the idea of composing music for puppet theatre.
After all, Iris ter Schiphorst was a passionate puppeteer herself as a child, writing plays with her friends and performing them in her parents' living room. Now, however, it was to be the large hall of the Philharmonie where the staged premiere of Grüffelo took place.
It was directed by Siegfried Heinzmann, who also made the puppets himself and designed and built the small yet sophisticated stage with obvious love, attention to detail and fun. The author and dramaturge Barbara Kilian, who founded the "Hans Wurst Nachfahren" theatre together with Siegfried Heinzmann and still runs it today, created a play version of Julia Donaldson's Grüffelo books suitable for the theatre. Together with four colleagues from her ensemble, she also brought the experiences of Grüffelo and Grüffelokind to life as a puppeteer during the performances in the Philharmonie.

Iris ter Schiphorst, with the participation of Stefan Lienenkämper, has composed an endearingly clever and extremely evocative score. The framework of the score is formed by the almost unchanged text from Julia Donaldson's Grüffelo books, which is spoken by the puppeteers in distributed roles, illustrated and commented on by the music in a variety of ways and supported by the child-friendly poetic power of Monika Osberghaus' German translation. But Iris ter Schiphorst's finely chiselled score by no means follows the spoken text. Even the instrumental introduction to her Grüffelo music - a depiction of nature that shimmers in many colours and for which the theatre "Hans Wurst Nachfahren" has found an enchanting scenic realisation - is stage music at its best. When you then heard (and saw) the cunning mouse boasting, the sneaky snake hissing or the Grüffelo trudging through the forest, the illusion was perfect - even though the puppeteers of "Hans Wurst Nachfahren" did not hide under or above the stage, but were visible at all times.

As I said, it wasn't as quiet as a mouse at the premiere of Grüffelo. But this is part of the tradition of children's and puppet theatre, in which the audience is allowed to shout "Watch out!" or "Run away!" at the actors on stage. And of course this also happened during the three performances of Grüffelo on 19 June. But the story was also hilarious and provided plenty of opportunity for a wide variety of interjections from young and old: a clever mouse invents a monster creature for his own protection, which suddenly confronts him. And of all things, this fiend, equipped with "terrible claws" and a "poisonous wart", then tells his Grüffelo child about the "big, bad mouse". Until the offspring decides to get to the bottom of the matter himself: Does this mouse that scares the big Grüffelo so much exist, or does it not? Of course it exists! And the Grüffelo and the Grüffelo child? They exist too! Or do they not ...?