"Hexe von Schongau" play: behind-the-scenes drama

Created: 04/19/2022, 10:00 am

By: Barbara Schlotterer-Fuchs

The "Witch of Schongau" as it was performed in 2009 on the open-air stage at Schaegger-Platz.

© Herold (archive)

The staging of the "Witch of Schongau" - the cult of the "Schongau Summer" - could have been brought to life.

The script is complete.

But the parties ended up disagreeing.

Schongau/Peiting – It is Rosendorfer's “witch of Schongau” that is still fondly remembered in Lechstadt and far beyond: the history of the town was combined here with excellent, top-class open-air theatre.

A journey through time to the Middle Ages.

Brilliant spectacle, a crowd puller that one still dreams of at the "Schongauer Sommer" today.

The dream could have continued.

Maybe he can still do that - but not with the successful Peitingen author Anschi Dopfer-Werner.

Although she had an order for a screenplay, which is now also finished.

Alone on the home straight in the negotiations with Schongauer Sommer boss Manfred Wodarczyk, business came to a standstill.

You could say: the worm was so intense that Wodarczyk finally gave up.

"Witch of Schongau" - new play written

From the front: Anschi Dopfer offers Manfred Wodarczyk to write a new “witch” for the Schongau summer.

According to Dopfer, that was years ago.

Wodarczyk wanted to buy the play for the association, Dopfer wanted the rights to it as the author.

Right from the start, Anschi Dopfer brought Ralf Sesar from Peiting on board.

The trained theater actor had already helped the last Schongau witch, Helmut Gehlert, with directing.

"Wodarzcyk and I have known each other for a long time."

Has written a new “witch” for an open-air theater like “Schongauer Sommer”: successful author Angela Dopfer.

At her side, the studied actor Ralf Sesar - he should have directed.

© Private

Anschi Dopfer writes, wants to give the Schongau witch a new perspective.

“One knows nothing about Agnes Weiss as a person in the old witch.

I wanted to do a piece that shows: what drove women during this time?

What were those circumstances?” she says.

There is a threesome meeting.

Dopfer writes an exposé.

Wodarzcyk likes this.

She gets the job.

The first four acts are approved for her.

Dopfer continues to research the file of the alleged witch Agnes Weiß.

"One has never been as close to these women as in this piece," she is certain.

There are nine acts at the end.

Dopfer's witch is not a young, pretty, naked woman.

She is an older Agnes White.

One that stands for a total of 63 women from Peiting, Schwabsoien, Schwabbruck and the entire Schongau area who once burned at the stake during the witch burnings in Schongau.

"Witch of Schongau": Author and organizer are at odds

Last fall things became concrete: Dopfer handed over the play to Wodarczyk together with Sesar.

The three discuss together at the Schongauer Volksfestplatz, it's about the stage on the slope, about the lighting, details.

In the end, the three don't come together.

Whether it was about artistic freedom or money: Nobody wants to comment on that.

Manfred Wodarczyk, organizer of the "Schongau Summer", also says that "the mood has changed".

At the request of the Schongauer Nachrichten, he deliberately does not want to pour oil on the burning fire, but points out the responsibility he bears with the financing of such a mammoth project that had already ruined the "Schongauer Sommer" club before Wodarczyk took over .

Didn't want the new "witch" in the end: Manfred Wodarczyk.

© Archive

Nevertheless, the “witch” did not die for him.

The cooperation with Dopfer and Sesar alone will probably not lead to anything anymore.

"We're planning a witch," says the Schongau summer boss, apparently on a different horse.

He does not want to reveal any details yet – but one date: In 2024, it is planned, there should be a new “witch” at “Schongauer Sommer”.

“Wandering Theater” planned

And Angela Dopfer?

"I'm disappointed," she admits after many months of research and writing.

Together with Ralf Sesar, she is now planning a kind of “travelling theatre”.

Her witch is to take place at various venues in the Schongau region, on a smaller scale.

"We've already driven around and looked at possible venues," reveals Sesar.

The whole thing should be as simple as possible, without great financial expense - with old barns or old houses as the stage and only 100 to 150 spectators per performance.

The new cultural association could strengthen the two of them.

So a lot is still very vague.

In any case, one thing is certain, at least for Dopfer: If her witch makes it onto a stage, then “there will be no naked woman on the stage for lustful spectators to enjoy” – a fact that Dopfer has already addressed in earlier performances of the Schongau open-air theater had disturbed.

Your witch shall be one with dignity.

So it remains exciting in every respect when it comes to the "Witch of Schongau".