Theater Teo Tiger: "Die drei Diamanten" (18/01/03)

The second Saturday of this programme we had the privilege to go to the theatre. I was looking forward to it as this would be a unique experience. We took a brisk walk with Barbara leading the way to the theatre. Since we were the first to arrive we could also ensure good seats. It is a small but cosy theatre. What caught my attention was the cukoo’s clock but unfortunately I didn’t hear it go off whilst being there. It all started with a musician coming in and playing on an instrument that made this amazing noise! I thought someone was secretely making special effects but it was just this one instrument. This was followed by a piece by Mozart (which I unfortunately don’t know by name) that is very familiar to me. It was played on a wind-machine. Klaus Ruckgaber then entered the room, who was going to play in the “Drei Diamanten”. He played out the different roles very well. It wasn’t structured but rather spontaneous. The audience participated in the plays and enjoyed it very much. Although some of us couldn’t fully understand what was going on we followed reasonably well. Every play was in german and I was told also in a Swabian dialect. I especially liked the part where Herr Ruckgaber asked us which fruit one would find in a Turkish palace. People started naming fruits and Mawande called out “guava”. At first Herr Ruckgaber couldn’t comprehend, but then he realized that it was a fruit in another language. He then said that was the South African pronounciation. We didn’t think that he knew about our presence in the audience. Another highlight was where he sang in Turkish. I especially liked it. After the play we were all thanked for our presence. However, the honour was actually ours as we entered for free. I would like to thank Herrn Ruckgaber for opening his heart to us, as such. This event also added to our unique experience of Tübingen.

(Lizel Lyners, University of the Western Cape)