BamBamBambi

With “Bambi. A Forest Music Story”, the Theater Oberhausen brings its very first climate-neutral theatre production to the stage. Based on Felix Salter’s novel of 1923, the musical play for families presents the coming-of-age story of a fawn and its friends.

This Bambi production with original text is entirely free of kitsch and trivialisation. It underscores how important it is to regard oneself as a part of nature so that one can fully appreciate and preserve it. With musical accompaniment by the composer and director Anselm Dalferth, the audience will experience the forest as a closed, natural cycle of changing seasons, lighting conditions, moments of harmony and danger. It will watch as plants and trees sprout and eventually decay.

Along with the animals of the forest, the play presents ordinary characters who must first explore their environment before they can assume responsibility for it. The climate-sensitive play “Bambi” hopes to inspire children and young adults to gain knowledge and courage to address climate change. As part of the accompanying programme, theatre, nature and forest educators will invite audience members to participate in preparatory courses, forest excursions, planting events and a climate-themed theatre working group for young people. The production aims to reduce and potentially avoid carbon emissions particularly in the areas of mobility, energy, procurement, equipment, set design and communication.