Karl May Festival Elspe: Action, Excitement & Emotions
Photo: Courtesy of Elspe Festival
(eap) Last weekend, the highlight of the Elspe festival year – the Karl May Festspiele – kicked off a new season. Until September 7, visitors to the show and festival park in Elspe (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) can experience this year’s play “Winnetou and the Half-Breed – A Battle for Life and Death”. A total of 60 actors, including Jean-Marc Birkholz and Martin Krah in the roles of “Winnetou” and “Old Shatterhand”, can be seen can be seen on the 100-meter-wide natural stage. Director Marco Kühne and his ensemble promise a mixture of action, suspense and emotion.
The content of the newly staged Karl May tale already guarantees excitement. In it, Winnetou calls together the chiefs of the neighbouring tribes to hold peace talks. The half-breed “Senanda” is also present. But when Senanda is later unable to convince his tribe of the peace talks, he is expelled and seeks revenge. Under a false name, he joins the railroad men at Firwood Camp and allies himself with the soldiers by telling them about a gold treasure called the “Bonanza of Hoaka”. But when the soldiers follow the Comanches and raid their camp, they are driven back to their fort thanks to Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. Senanda realizes the mistakes he has made out of jealousy and vanity. He steals dynamite from the Firewood camp and the fight to the death begins....
Over the past 60 years, the Elspe Festival has welcomed around 15 million visitors. Besides the Karl May Festival, the Elspe Festival is also known for its dinner shows, which are held every year during the Christmas season. ■
