In November, the "Animations" puppet theater festival organized by the City of Aachen's cultural department in cooperation with artistic director Stephan Wunsch will be attracting young and old to the Space in the Ludwig Forum Aachen for the third time this year. The festival showcases the entire spectrum of modern puppet theater.

Puppet theater is always a theater of surprises. The title of the festival "Animations" describes both the movement of the figures and the enthusiasm of the audience, which is also animated. The new series of events builds on the rich tradition of puppet theater in Aachen. The Space is established as a permanent venue. The character of the series gives the whole thing a framework. It is a collaboration between the independent scene, politics and administration.

The performance of the adult play "Deus Riding - Learning to Die in the Anthropocene" by the "theater blaues haus" from Krefeld on Friday, 22 November at 7.30 pm shows what puppet theater has to offer beyond the region. Technological and scientific progress prompt two emissaries of the human species to apply for admission to the Council of the Gods. For humans claim that they have evolved and are now also divine. The divine members of the council are less than enthusiastic about this idea and a process begins in which time is thrown out of joint. It is an aesthetic and sensual journey through light and shadow, space and time, puppetry and animation, which takes a critical but nonetheless magical look at technological progress and the accompanying "disenchantment of the world".

For children and families, the play "Luise ist weg" by Theater Albersmann from Hamburg is on the festival program on Saturday, 23 November at 3.30 pm. "Luise ist weg" offers 45 minutes of puppet theater for dreamers and dawdlers aged four and up. After a stormy journey home, the shepherd counts his sheep as usual and is shocked to discover that Luise has gone. Luise, the little sheep with the black spot on her bottom. Bruno the dog and Agathe the chicken agree: it's Luise's own fault because she's always daydreaming and dawdling. Despite their protests, the shepherd sets off in search of her. And he has to hurry, because the wolf has also picked up Luise's trail. A ladder, a suitcase, a table, a chair - all this quickly turns into a yard for the shepherd, for Bruno the dog, Agathe the chicken, a wolf - and of course for Luise.

The "animations" at the Space continue: next year, four puppet theater double dates for children and adults are planned for March 7 and 9, May 16 and 17, September 19 and 20 and November 14 and 15.