In October, 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 second time. The festival showcases the entire spectrum of modern puppet theater.

Puppet theater is 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 "Don Quixote" by the Gingganz puppet theater from Meensen on October 4 shows what puppet theater has to offer beyond the region. The Gingganz puppet theater will also be performing the classic "Oh How Beautiful Panama" for children and families on October 5.

"Don Quixote - a play" on October 4 at 7.30 pm

And so it has come to pass: Don Quixote of La Mancha, the knight of the sad figure, is dead and buried. All that remains of his great adventures is a pile of tin and the ridicule of the people. Sancho Panza now sits in front of the screen, his virtual home pub, and remembers his time with the Knight of the Sad Countenance and all the adventures they had together. It's just as well that he has recorded everything in pictures, videos, texts and sounds. Of course, he has embellished one or two things, as everyone does. And through the lens of memory, some things look completely different. Or was it really like that after all? Or is it all just fiction? That's what Miguel de Cervantes claims; after all, he wrote the novel. You can write a lot, says Sancho, but I must know best what it was like, because I was there. And Sancho Panza recounts the tragic-comic and absurd adventures he experienced with Don Quixote as if everything had just happened.

Flat figures, objects and the player are mixed live, disassembled and reassembled, thrown onto the wall with a projector and picked up again.

Info: Playing time 1 hour 30 min + break

Advance booking: www.reservix.de

Full payer 15 Euro

Part-payers: 12 euros (concessions for pupils, students, volunteers, persons doing community service, trainees)

Evening box office (Ludwig Forum Museum box office)

"Oh how beautiful is Panama" on October 5 at 3.30 pm

A large cardboard box on the stage. When it opens, a small world opens up before the audience's eyes: the world of Little Bear and Little Tiger. Little Bear goes fishing in the river every day and Little Tiger goes into the forest to find mushrooms.

One day, Little Bear fishes a box out of the river that smells wonderfully of bananas everywhere, a box from Panama. And that is the beginning of a wonderful journey. On the way, they meet the mouse, the fox, the cow, the rabbit and the hedgehog, they learn what the world looks like from above and how cozy a plush sofa is.

Info: Playing time: 50 min (suitable from 4 years)

Advance booking: www.reservix.de

Full payer 8 Euro

Part-payers 5 euros (concessions for pupils, students, volunteers, persons doing community service, trainees)

Evening box office (Ludwig Forum Museum box office)

The festival continues in November. With the performance of the adult play "DEUS RIDING - Learning to Die in the Anthropocene" by "theater blaues haus" from Krefeld, modern puppet theater for adults will be offered on 22 November. For children and families, there will be "Luise ist weg" by Theater Albersmann from Hamburg on November 23.

And the "animations" in the space continue: four puppet theater double dates for children and adults are already planned for 2025.

Info: www.rosenfisch.de and www.fithe.be as well as social media aachen macht kultur. Tickets: www.reservix.de