"The Year 29"

The AMV theatre group ventures into their largest production to date with a dark tragedy set during the Thirty Years' War.

Since the middle of last summer semester, the AMV theatre group has been rehearsing their current piece: "The Year 29". The setting is the small village of Pritzwalk during the Thirty Years' War. Mercenary groups, led by the Colonel (Frederik Stoiber), plunder the hut of the Reusch family on the edge of the village. The parents Reusch are found murdered, the brothers Martin (Marten Wehrhahn) and Willi (Gabriel Cermann) are forced to fight for their survival as mercenaries. The sister Maria (Sarah Neubauer) manages to flee to the village, but no less dangerous situations await her there: the vicar Gregor Rose (Adriano Henseler) and the villager Elsa Schrader (Tanja Gündling) are in cahoots in more ways than one and want to condemn Maria as a witch for burning. Yet even during the time of the Thirty Years' War, which is dominated by madness, war, violence, power struggles, treachery, contempt and criminality, there are glimmers of hope. Maria finds refuge with her childhood sweetheart Arn Liebig (Ludwig Lüchtrath). After several twists and confusions, humanity returns in Maria's favour with some of the villagers and she narrowly escapes the witch burning. However, the plot is far removed from a classical "happy ending", given the multitude of hardships and deaths to be recorded.

Frederik Stoiber, a student of Human-Computer Systems and member of the AMV theatre group, wrote the piece himself. He reports that the drama "primarily deals with the Thirty Years' War", so the plot is "chaotic, the mercenaries are chaotic, simply because the time towards the end of the Thirty Years' War was also chaotic". The author laments that the historically important topic of the Thirty Years' War is rarely taken up in the media, although it is very decisive for European history. As someone interested in history, it seemed natural to him to write about this time of radical upheaval. Frederik Stoiber tried to approach the realisation of the piece "without expectations", and the result "pleases him well". This is certainly also because he tried to "avoid the author's perspective, which ultimately also worked out". Despite some warnings, Stoiber decided to also act as an actor himself, and slipped into the role of the Colonel: "I certainly didn't write the Colonel onto myself. I had him and several other characters quite differently in mind. But I have never regretted performing myself." The author also reports that scenes were changed, added or deleted, and the outcome between good, evil and ultimately a consensus also grew. "In retrospect, the entire project was an absolutely good decision!", Stoiber reflects.

Director and master of technology Michael Jansky particularly highlights the development of the theatre group: "For the first time we dare to move away from comedy and then straight into a self-written tragedy. But thanks to Frederik Stoiber, this is well stageable." The piece is only conditionally historically authentic, but the director values this as "artistic freedom". According to Jansky, the actors of the AMV are "in excellent form for performing a tragedy." Jansky particularly praises the villains and extras, who contribute spontaneously and energetically to the success of the piece. Jansky's conclusion: "The theatre group has really flourished during the development of the piece. You have to go through a lot of sorrow, but for this result it has really been worth it." Michael Jansky works consciously and, as a sound technician in the Chambinzky, skilfully with lighting effects and the stylistic means that result from them. He also relies on the effectiveness of slowness rather than rapid drama: "The slowness makes the piece."

The role of Maria Reusch, valued by author Stoiber as the "most demanding role", is played by Sarah Neubauer. This character is characterised above all by its complexity and depth through the different situations and character constellations she experiences. Sarah Neubauer remarks: "After rehearsing the piece, I was usually depressed. After all, you live the character too." Neubauer describes the rehearsal process as an "experiment", because "you know the author as a fellow actor, know that the director is doing his job for the first time, have a troupe that likes to joke around during rehearsals and first have to bring it all together." But the actress is confident: "We have certainly succeeded in building tension and, through the changes to the piece, creating the necessary degree of reality." Sarah Neubauer sees her character as a contemporary one: "Even today it can happen just as quickly as it did back then that someone at the height of their career, their being, falls deep and loses the ground beneath their feet." Some characters in the piece teach us how to deal with such a situation: Maria chooses love. But Neubauer knows: "Each audience member must work out for themselves how to deal with such blows of fate."

Although author Stoiber and director Jansky would have wished for more costumes and props, and the plot strands are often difficult for the audience to follow, the focus is on the successful realisation of a self-written piece. The actors in particular have given the piece life and character and thus contributed significantly to its success through their outstanding performance.

Helena Klöhr