"Warum nur - warum?"

Description

Theatrical engagement with a fate by and with Matthias Peter The Zurich Oberland poet Jakob Stutz was one of the most popular Swiss authors of his time. His "Paintings from Folk Life" and his autobiography "Seven Times Seven Years of My Life" were very popular with readers. They served as the first and most important source for customs in the Zurich Oberland in the first half of the 19th century for folklore in the 20th century. As a talented child from the countryside, he developed into a colorful personality. He became a crafts and elementary school teacher, writer and poet father, editor and adult educator, social reformer, and founder of a savings bank. Since childhood, he was haunted by the awareness of being different from other boys. As an adult, he came into conflict with the law because of his homosexual orientation and repeatedly asked himself in prison: "Why only - why?" Matthias Peter, theater maker and author, addresses Jakob Stutz and his fate on the double anniversary - 225th birthday and 150th death anniversary. With a theatrical monologue about his merits and faults, he lets the poet appear as a revenant in a small memorial exhibition, gives him a voice, and shares his development and inner struggles with the audience, without excusing his misdeeds. The main locations of the story are the Zurich Oberland communities of Hittnau, Sternenberg, Fischenthal, Pfäffikon, and Bäretswil. But also the city of Zurich as well as Schwellbrunn and Trogen in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Matthias Peter has directed the Kellerbühne St. Gallen from 2004 to 2026 and shaped its own productions as an actor and director. As a publicist, he is a recognized expert on Zurich Oberland literature in the 19th century, especially the works of Jakob Stutz and his poet students Jakob and Heinrich Senn, Ulrich Furrer, and Jakob Messikommer. With two solo theater pieces, he has also gained a reputation in the Zurich Oberland in recent years with positive media echo and good audience turnout: "Nöd lugg lah gwünnt!" about the "bank father" Johann Jakob Keller (2023) and "Der ‹Grüne Heinrich› von Fischenthal" about the folk poet Jakob Senn (2024). With the solo piece "Warum nur - warum!" about the poet Jakob Stutz, Matthias Peter continues this series and also shows it in Herisau and Trogen due to its significant references to the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. It is musically structured by song stanzas of the poems "Flowers from the Homeland" by Jakob Stutz and "Evening Song of a Cistercian" by Karl Gotthard Grass. These address the themes discussed, set contemplative pauses, and weave themselves as a red thread and pattern into the story. Further information:
www. text-theater. ch │ www. matthiaspeter. ch

Highlights

• Theatrical engagement with Jakob Stutz
• Monologue for the 225th birthday and 150th death anniversary
• Performance at the Old Stuhlfabrik, Herisau

General Information

The event "Warum nur - warum?" addresses the life and fate of Zurich poet Jakob Stutz. Matthias Peter presents the inner struggles and merits of the author on stage in a theatrical monologue and offers the audience insight into his eventful biography.

Location

Kasernenstrasse 39a, 9100 Herisau, Switzerland

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