City of Darmstadt honors theater association with Silver Medal of Merit
Nearly 100 festive members and guests of the Hessian Playgroup 1925 Darmstadt eV gathered at the Comedy Hall on September 30th for a festive banquet to celebrate the band's 100th anniversary. The champagne reception and lavish buffet, the first course, were a celebration in themselves!
At the start of the program, the red curtain gave the invited guests a clear view of the stage, a “Traase” garden restaurant atmosphere with a blue illuminated sky, Äppelwoi (apple wine) and illustrious guests from the theater community, as is well known from the “Datterich.”
Kikeriki impresario and host Roland Hotz welcomed the audience and invited Mayor Hanno Benz onto the stage, who bore a particularly high honor: the Silver Medal of Merit, the highest award the city of Darmstadt presents to the Hessian Theater Association! "The Hessian Theater Association is distinguished by its cultivation of the local dialect, its close collaboration with the State Theater, and the enthusiasm of its actors. It is an integral part of the local
theater tradition, and its performances contribute to Darmstadt's identity," said Mayor and Head of Culture Hanno Benz. The mayor received heartfelt thanks from the two chairmen, Rafael Reißer and Ralf Hellriegel, as well as sustained, grateful applause from the audience. The two also took the opportunity to express their sincere gratitude to the numerous sponsors for their generous donations to mark the anniversary.
None other than Dr. Peter Engels, a retired city archivist, subsequently delivered a successful keynote speech on the "reasons for the founding" of the Hessian Theater Association, which was founded in the autumn of 1925 by Ernst Legal, the artistic director of the then State Theater. Its sole purpose was to authentically stage Niebergall's "Datterich" as part of the city's social life. This objective has remained unchanged to this day. Over the years, the amateur theater group's repertoire has expanded to include plays such as "The Glass Cabinet," "He Wants to Have a Joke," "The Merry Vineyard," "Katharina Knie," "The Boy Will Never Be Anything," "The Inn in the Spessart," "Pension Schöller," "Arsenic and Old Lace," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and "Volpone."
The HSG currently has 93 members, about half of whom are permanent members. The ensemble is also a multigenerational project. The oldest member, Fredi Seip, is 93 years old and has been with the group since 1948. The youngest member is 22.
After the entertaining and humorous reading by long-time HSG members Marga Hargefeld, Jana Gies, and Gösta Gantner, the current leading man of Datterich, Hans-Joachim Heist, stepped into the spotlight in a period Biedermeier costume. With lighthearted, humorous statements and quotes, the mime provided the audience with the best of lighthearted entertainment.
Karsten Wiegand, Artistic Director of the Darmstadt State Theater, also took the opportunity to express his gratitude and praise for the decades of excellent collaboration with the ensemble. His birthday present to the HSG is still in the works: a booklet entitled "Find Me Happiness" with interesting verses for all 93 members of the ensemble! The HSG has already produced and presented each member with a very valuable commemorative medal made of fine silver as a gift to commemorate the anniversary year. A commemorative publication is in the works, but will not be published until next year, as all anniversary activities in 2025 are to be documented there.
To round off the successful evening, the Kikeriki Theater launched a special attack on the laughter muscles of those present with excerpts from the puppet show "Achtung Oma." It wasn't until well after midnight that the lights were turned out in the Comedy Hall, and a cheerful party headed home after a successful evening.
By Ralf Hellriegel
