On Monday 23rd March, Grade 10 met with their German teachers Frau Kreß and Frau Seele in the Old Town of Heidelberg to watch the play "Biedermann und die Brandstifter" by Max Frisch, a thought-provoking parable that shows how, for fear of speaking out, people sometimes watch impending doom complacently and without taking action against it–until it is too late.
The performance was engaging, modern and fast-paced, with clever use of staging and rap music and fabulous acting. Students and staff really enjoyed the evening. This was the last of six theatre visits during the academic year 2025–26, as the new "Kooperationsvertrag" between Heidelberg Theatre and H.I.S. has enabled us to take all of our secondary students from Grade 6–12 to see a production, thus allowing students to look beyond the classroom and broaden their horizons.
Here are a few student voices:
Wir fanden das Stück sehr interessant. Es wurde sehr gut gespielt. Wir mochten, wie die Schauspieler das Publikum in das Stück einbezogen haben. Wie der Erzähler alles, was passiert ist, gesungen hat, war auch sehr unterhaltsam. Und die Musik, die Lichter und die Geräusche haben das Stück sehr aufregend erscheinen lassen. Insgesamt war das Stück sehr lustig und spannend zugleich. (Carlos und Oscar)
Das Theaterstück ‚Biedermann und die Brandstifter‘ wurde im Zwingertheater Heidelberg sehr gut gespielt. Es war lustig, hat gute Stimmung aufgebracht, Messages vermittelt und es wurde Kontakt zu den Schülern aufgebaut, auch das Bühnenbild und die Performer waren toll. Die Hip-Hop-Musik, zu der die Performer selbst gerappt haben, wurde immer wieder sehr gut eingebaut. Es hat mir als Jugendliche, sehr gut gefallen. Danke! (Wanda)
I thoroughly enjoyed this play, mainly because it held so much meaning and symbolism. Everything from the lights to the props was so nicely integrated, and especially the costumes. The costumes had an extreme contrast to the house that they lived in, where their house was modern and new, but they themselves were sort of old and tacky, maybe referring to the Biedermanns as closed and/or old minded. (Yosra)
The play was very stimulating and thought provoking! The acting and characterization, the use of space and staging, the stage design, lighting, sound, and costume all communicated meaning to the play in a pleasurable and concise way. One specific example is how the clown make-up of the arsonists conveyed how Biedermann and Babette were deluding themselves. Clowns are symbols of illusion, characters that wear a mask to make laughs, but this is contrasted with the fact that clowns are often creepy to people because their mask is not their real face. This double meaning worked very well in the context of the play, showing both the eerie and disturbing side of the arsonists and how Babette and Biedermann did not take the clowns seriously. (Sophia)
