And suddenly happiness falls at the feet of the track guard

Because of the pandemic, only a few viewers were allowed into the community center, but streamed at home.

The piece "Der Tunnel" celebrated a special Eching debut.

Eching

- After a long cultural dry spell, the Eching audience, the stage ensemble of the Munich light stage and also the author Bernhard Ganter who was present at the two-person play "The Tunnel" in the Eching community center had a special evening at the theater. It was also a home game premiere for the writer from Dietersheim. Thanks to the live stream, not only a few guests could be present in the hall, but also other interested viewers in their own four walls.

The stage version, adapted by director Guido Terstegen, is based on Ganter's much-acclaimed novel of the same name from 2013.

The drama as well as the book, both bizarre and profound, demanding and thought-provoking, make it clear that the weak are devalued and marginalized in their respective societies.

In the western world, this applies to the somewhat simple-minded Joseph Staudinger played by Peter Bosch.

As a counterpart, Yasmin Afrouz embodies a typical female role in the Arab world in the form of Aisha as the second wife of a rich Arab tourist.

Abuses, misunderstandings and mishaps

As Aisha explains in a haunting monologue, Muslim women are all too often forcibly married as very young girls and lead a shadowy existence behind their veils. From an early age, the life of the meanwhile adult village boy and rail guard Joseph is a result of abuse, misunderstandings and mishaps. The outsider is harassed with great dread of the female sex, which both fascinates and repels him. As an adult, he suffers from the jokes of his xenophobic regulars who laugh at him, not with him. He only feels comfortable in his own world of tracks and wagons, has a special gift, can hear from knocking noises whether rails are defective.

Percussionist Amadeus Bodis impressively accompanies the stage action not only with loud and rhythmic knocking noises, but also lets it rustle or whisper, whistle or rattle in front of a film set in the background.

Staudinger's lonely life takes a fateful turn after the 50-year-old is given notice of his job and then Aisha - quite literally - falls at his feet from a train driving through the tunnel.

He can have a wonderful conversation with her about his life, but also hers.

“I can listen well”, characterizes the Muslim woman.

Aisha is just a good listener

“Aisha is different,” explains the love-loving rail attendant.

How “different” it actually is and why the track guard needs a large freezer on his mountain does not become apparent until the very end for those viewers who are not familiar with the novel.

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