The stage is a white canvas on which Sofia Villarreal first sketches the entire backstory with a moving charcoal pencil: a charming idea that continues throughout the performance, even blossoming into colorful details at the end. Initially, a couple in love is shown. As if by magic, they grow into a family until dark clouds of fate gather. At the end of the overture, a girl stands alone, childlike, and cuddling an owl and a badger.
She does so quite dreamily, even when Aschenbrödel becomes visible on stage: a young woman of marriageable age who, apparently under the care of her own aunt, has long since become a rival to her daughter. This naturally creates tensions, which are not played out here in nearly the same humiliating way as in the fairy tale. Choreographer Xenia Wiest tells the ...
