Origen stages an open-air play to mark the Graubünden jubilee
Published: Thursday, Feb 29th 2024, 15:30
Back to Live Feed
The canton of Graubünden has pulled off a great feat for its 500th anniversary celebrations: The well-known Origen Theater, led by director Giovanni Netzer, is staging an ambitious open-air play about the founding years of the Free State of the Three Leagues. It will be the centerpiece of the anniversary celebrations in the autumn.
The merger of three regional leagues in 1524 to form the Free State of the Three Leagues is celebrated. The signing of a federal charter created a new state with its own constitution, a forerunner of today's canton.
"An open-air play about a political commemoration is a theatrical mine," said Giovanni Netzer on Thursday in Lantsch/Lenz GR about the challenge of writing and staging the play. "It was about finding out how to celebrate a political memorial day without patheticizing the subject matter," he explained at the presentation of the open-air play plans to the media.
The game therefore spans the decades before and after the alliance. It shows the power struggle between the autonomous communities, the influential aristocracy and the foreign princes.
Natural stage in a spectacular mountain landscape
Netzer is staging the open-air play on the high plateau of Lantsch/Lentz in the midst of spectacular mountain scenery, as could be seen during a tour of the site. "You feel outside of civilization here," said the theater director. The play is performed on a partially covered stage and in the landscape.
The natural stage forms a sweeping depression, bordered by trees and a gorge-like slope. A series of imposing 3000-metre peaks stand on the horizon.
"We have a lot of experience in ensuring the interaction of space, stage and play," explained Netzer. Origen has already used stages open to the landscape for various productions and has also staged open-air plays. Origen's temporary theater tower at the top of the Julier Pass attracted nationwide attention.
The Drei Bünde open-air play is performed from mid-September to mid-October.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic