Name: The dung beetle
Start: 2026-02-26T00:00:00
Location: Staatstheater Mainz

Paul-Johannes Kirschner

Michael Millard

Staatstheater Mainz

America's most bizarre family is back with a new story: The Addamses live a anything but ordinary life in their house in Central Park, full of darkness, pain, and death. But that could soon change: Wednesday, the family's daughter, has grown up and falls in love with a handsome, intelligent young man from a respectable family - a man the likes of which her parents have never met before. As if that weren't bad enough, Wednesday lets her father in on her secret and begs him not to tell her mother. Now Gomez Addams has to do something he's never done before - keep a secret from his beloved wife Morticia. And the next catastrophe is just around the corner: That evening the families are supposed to get to know each other, and Wednesday just wants a completely normal evening without any unusual incidents, but everything turns out differently than planned...

The Addams Family

Viola is separated from her brother Sebastian in a shipwreck and comes ashore in Illyria. Here, disguised as a page, she decides to enter the service of Duke Orsino under the name Cesario. The Duke takes a liking to the young nobleman and sends him as a messenger to Olivia, whom he adores. Viola, who has fallen in love with the Duke, suffers under these errands. To her delight, Olivia rejects Orsino's advances, as she has sworn to mourn her deceased brother for seven years – but then falls in love with the supposed youth Cesario. This leads to turbulent complications, which are further exacerbated by the appearance of Sebastian, who was also rescued in the shipwreck and who bears a striking resemblance to Viola. A melancholic jester accompanies the numerous amorous adventures and the pranks of the colorful group surrounding Squire Tobias with his wisdom. He also participates in a prank played by Tobias and his lady-in-waiting, Maria, on the snooty steward Malvolio: They trick him into believing Olivia loves him, whereupon he makes such a fool of himself that Olivia thinks he's crazy. He is imprisoned and, deeply offended, plots revenge...

What you want

Princess Turandot never wants to belong to a man. To deter her suitors, she has passed a cruel law: anyone who wishes to marry her must first solve three riddles. If they fail, they are executed. Countless men have already met their deaths this way. Nevertheless, Prince Calaf feels attracted to Turandot. Ignoring the urgent warnings of his father and Liù, who loves him selflessly, he faces the riddles – and succeeds in solving them! But instead of taking Turandot as his wife against her will, he now gives her a riddle of his own…

Turandot

Bastian Balthasar Bux is a completely normal boy, or at least that's what he always thought... until one day his whole life changed.

The Neverending Story

The Cat in the Hat ends up in Stackeln an der Kruke by chance. She moves into an old, empty house where the grumpy brewery director Maulwisch spent his unhappy childhood. The cat promises to make the house a thoroughly happy place. But that's impossible on her own – so little by little she takes in a bunch of homeless people, orphans, and oddballs: Marianne the Dudelhuhn, Captain Knaak, the Zappergeck, Baby Hübner the musical pig, the Stolpervogel, and the Erbsenstein brothers. Together they turn the house completely upside down and open the doors to happiness. But with so many protégés, there's naturally no money left for the rent. Brewery director Maulwisch immediately makes a fuss!

Cat with hat

When his parents go dancing on Saturday nights, ten-year-old Anton Bohnsack settles in at home with his favorite books. He loves reading vampire stories—the scarier, the better. But when a real vampire suddenly appears on his windowsill one evening, it gives him a real fright. It's a good thing this little bloodsucker, Rüdiger von Schlotterstein, and his younger sister, Anna the Toothless, are more interested in friendship than in Anton's blood. If only it weren't for the adults! Human children should probably stay hidden from Rüdiger's relatives. Anton's parents don't really believe in vampires, but they're determined to invite their son's strange new friends over for cake. And then there's the nasty Geiermeier, who wants to make the cemetery vampire-free...

The Little Vampire

Anyone who has ever experienced a silent film with live music will never forget it. It is a powerful experience to allow the now historic film images to enter into dialogue with live music. What was once common is now a rarity, even though there is a small but very active community of experts and enthusiasts in German-speaking countries who, in addition to repertoire classics like Metropolis or Nosferatu , also celebrate films that are often largely unknown today. Preserving and archiving this fragile film material is a race against time: The film reels, now 100 years old or more, are often damaged by environmental influences or improper storage, are sometimes only partially preserved, and are scattered in remote attics all over the world. The music for the respective films is often completely lost - which makes it all the more important that there are numerous initiatives that have set themselves the goal of making the silent film genre accessible to the public again in all its stylistic breadth and with newly composed music.

4th Symphony Concert

Angry over the sharp rise in food prices, Antonia and Margherita decide to raid the supermarket. At home, they hide the goods from their equally unsuspecting yet law-abiding husbands. When the police begin searching their apartments, things get tense. A rapid-fire game of confusion ensues, and a socially critical farce unfolds, featuring exploding inflation rates, economic crises, and political lies.

There is no payment!

Nora Monsecour has been a member of the tanzmainz ensemble since the 2018/19 season and, as a brilliant dancer, has collaborated with numerous renowned artists. She uses her diverse skills to explore a personal yet universal theme in her first solo recital.

Façade (UA)

Marie receives a nutcracker on Christmas Eve. She loves it from the very first moment. At night, she even dreams of the beautiful gift: Large mice scurry through the room,and with a rumble, the Christmas tree begins to grow. Finally, the nutcracker comes to life. Together with it, Marie enters the land of sweets, and a journey into wondrous worlds begins...

The Nutcracker

Experience a festive Christmas program full of sonic splendor! The State Orchestra brings musical stories about puppets and a snowman to life. Touching, inspiring, and surprising – like the perfect Christmas gift for the whole family!

Christmas concert

Engelbert Humperdinck was actually only supposed to set to music a few passages from the fairytale play Hansel and Gretel , which his sister Adelheid Wette had written for a family performance. However, on the enthusiastic advice of his relatives, the small project developed first into a singspiel and finally into a full-length opera about the story of the siblings Hansel and Gretel. Growing up in poverty, their mother sends them into the forest to pick berries out of necessity. There they meet not only the Sand Men and the Dew Men, but also the witch who has sent shivers down the spines of countless children.

Hansel and Gretel

The emperor's horse receives golden horseshoes for its great achievements. The little dung beetle, who lives in the stable, believes he too should be honored with such a decoration, but receives only scorn and ridicule. Misunderstood and deeply offended, the "imperial insect" sets out on a journey through his little world, where many adventures await...