Comments - The Gruffalo

ENGERHAFE... so everyone was thrilled and now knows that the "Gruffalo", a monster from the children's book by the British author Julia Donaldson, really does exist. They had seen him in person in Engerhafe at the mobile theater "pohyb's and consorts". The enthusiasm with which children can join in was also experienced here first hand. What the mobile theater, the duo Maike Jansen and Stefan Ferencz offered without a large stage set and complex technology, was great. With simple means, but expressive body language and pantomime, they stimulated the imagination and so the children "saw" the animals in the forest. They were happy for the pliet mouse, another character from the children's book by Julia Donaldson, and helped her enthusiastically, because the mouse would certainly not have survived some situations if it had not been loudly warned by the bright children in time. ... Once again it was shown that animals do not stop at borders and so the snake was a Russian immigrant who caused just as much excitement with "Dawai, dawai and Spasiba" as the Italian fox, from whom one expected to hear at any moment "Isch abe gar kein Auto". The owl, on the other hand, came along with a snobbish nasal tone and a cool English understatement; this multicultural mixture was just too funny. Since 2005, the duo Maike Jansen and Stefan Ferencz have not only been traveling around Germany with their shows, they delight children wherever they go. Thanks to their expressiveness, there are no language barriers either ... Osnabrücker Nachrichten (Barbara Hoppe)

KNETZGAU. A stroke of luck for the kindergarten. To round off the kindergarten year, the parents' council of the Knetzgau kindergarten organized a play in the council and cultural hall. The engagement of the two actors from the mobile theater pohyb's and co., who live in Hofheim, turned out to be an absolute stroke of luck, because from the first to the last minute of the performance, the two actors shone with passion and professionalism. The skill with which the two actors use gestures and facial expressions is already evident at the beginning of the play, when Stefan Ferencz peeks out from behind the stage and performs the first pantomimic movements. With clown-like charm, he manages to break the ice and draw the 110 or so children into the spell of his play. Together with his acting partner Maike Jansen, he creates a summery forest atmosphere with buzzing bees and twittering birds at the beginning of the performance. The fact that the two actors write their plays to suit each other is noticeable throughout the entire performance. All roles and scenes that go back to the children's book "The Gruffalo" are interpreted in an absolutely authentic and convincing way. With a lot of wit and humor, they work on the book's emotionally moving theme for children, without losing any of its depth. Phases of tension, which can be seen on the children's faces, are followed by comical scenes, to which the children react with loud laughter and visible relaxation. The energetic acting of the actors immediately jumps over to the children and encourages them to process what they have seen much more than a television film. The Gruffalo is a terrifying monster, a fantasy figure that the mouse thought up to escape the hungry forest animals. The picture book by Axel Scheffler and Julia Donaldson takes up the old theme of David and Goliath and shows in a story that is accessible to children that fearlessness and ingenuity can overcome the supposedly overwhelming. A story that addresses children's archaic primal fears, but also gives courage; because: "Even if you are small and vulnerable, you don't have to let yourself be defeated; you can defend yourself with wit and imagination." (Maike Jansen) The little mouse, played by Maike Jansen - always with a cheerful "Schupti-Dupti" on her lips - meets the fox, the owl and the snake on her way through the forest. With simple, expressive accessories that are used effectively on stage, the two actors slip into the roles of these animals and give them their own character through gestures, facial expressions and voice. The British-looking owl wants to invite the mouse to "tea" and the fox turns out to be a macho Italian model. The entire production is based on quick role changes, the skilful use of body and voice, and the lively acting of the two actors. The children also sense that the two artists have mastered their tools down to the smallest detail and are immediately immersed in the story. The children will remember this visit to the theatre for a long time.

MOSBACH. Monster-like performances by “Pohyb's and Co.” - Gruffalo stories brought to life with great imagination. “I'm not at all afraid of the Gruffalo. But all girls are afraid.” With this questionable statement, a little boy commented on the performance of “Pohyb's and Co.” Jürgen Mellert from “Kindler's Bookstore,” who organized the two performances in the Sängerheim, was delighted with the huge response from 160 spectators. Anyone who had already seen Maike Jansen and Stefan Ferencz with the “Three Friends” knew that the two actors, musicians, mimes and puppeteers bring their literary works to life in a very special way. The couple also presented Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's “Gruffalo” stories about the “monster-strong” mouse who uses his brains to chase away all his enemies - instead of ending up in their stomachs - in a playful and poetic way. The fact that they largely did without props stimulated the audience's imagination even more. The prologue already revealed a very unique view of the world and the pace that prevails in it. Behind the black structure of the stage you could hear eerie noises, wild grumbling and stamping. With a "Pst!" Stefan Ferencz calmed the growling, imaginary creature. He put on a vest, removed imaginary lint and was quite surprised to see a group of children sitting in front of him. Even a "One, two, three" followed by a snap of the fingers did not turn out to be a bad dream for the audience. Fortunately, Maike Jansen arrived at just the right moment and played a light summer melody on the concertina. "There are crawling and flying things in the forest," the two explained. They modelled the forest atmosphere using cuckoo calls, frog croaking and mosquito buzzing. With a cheerful "Schubedibu" on his lips, the mouse strolled through the forest. A headband with mouse ears was all the actress needed to slip into the fabulous role of the rodent. "Ciao, Bambini," the fox greeted the children, first polishing his oversized tail to a high shine before saying: "Ho fame, breakfast, I'm hungry." When he saw the mouse, he let out a quiet "yummy." Cunningly, he wanted to invite her to his house for some jelly. But the little girl saw through the womanizer and flatly refused. The highwayman was driven away by the comment that she was expecting the Gruffalo, and he loves eating fox skewers. The invitation from the swooping owl to tea fell on deaf ears, as did the invitation to the "snake-mouse festival." Sometimes the Gruffalo dreamed of "owl with icing sugar," and then again of "snake puree." With a cheerful “Schubidubidu” on her lips – the children quickly added a “Dub!” – the mouse jumped away and was amazed at the animals’ gullibility. Until the fictitious monster stood in front of her in the flesh and made it clear: “My favorite food is bread and butter with a mouse.” But the mouse was also able to outwit the giant masked man with a bloodcurdling voice. During the story of the Gruffalo’s child, masterful pantomime brought his best friend Stockmann to life. A wild chase in slow motion thrilled the audience as well as the actors, who were always good for a bizarre interlude. Perhaps it was almost too much of a good thing in the end. The first story would probably have given the younger audience enough material to talk about.

GERNSBACH. Children are having fun with “Pohyb's and the rest” in the Marienhaus. “Other direction! Behind you. No, there!” The excitement is building, the children are screaming louder and louder, they can hardly stay seated. Finally, they want to warn the clever mouse about the snake, which is hissing towards them in order to devour the little animal at the “Snake-Mouse Festival”. But the mouse knows what to do. It is invited to the Gruffalo with the “fiery eyes” and “spikes on his back”, who also likes to eat “snake puree” the most... The church public library gave its youngest readers a great gift on Thursday afternoon to mark its 125th anniversary: the mobile theater “pohyb's and the rest” performed the popular children's story “The Gruffalo” in the Marienhaus. Maike Jansen and Stefan Ferencz took on the roles of the mouse, the Gruffalo and the forest animals that normally like to have mouse on their menu. With pantomime, completely live noises, music on a concertina and a stage set reduced to a black wall with a small door, the duo conjured up a forest atmosphere in the packed Mariensaal. Then the mouse appeared with a boisterous “Schubdi, schubbedi-dubti”. The owl with its English accent, the snake that hissed in Russian and the vain fox that tried to lure the mouse in Italian were also lovingly designed. “pohyb's and co” had also integrated the rhymes typical of this story - so that some children eagerly joined in and I was happy to include them. “When is the Gruffalo finally coming?” called an impatient spectator. Then he was there: the figure appeared over the edge of the stage, oversized and unmistakable. The connection to the Gruffalo child, who is warned by his father about the "evil mouse": "Their eyes can flash like fire", was also successful. But the little Gruffalo boldly sets out to find the mouse - and meets the familiar forest animals again. ("Pohyb's and co.", who developed the piece in collaboration with the publisher "Beltz & Gelberg" based on the two children's books, give this toy of the young Gruffalo a special role. "Mr. Stockmann" does not want to go into the forest. Stefan Ferencz portrays this in an amusing way in his clownish fight, in which the stick figure ultimately comes up short. It is amazing how much the duo got out of the popular children's books.) Although the character of Julia Donaldson's story and the illustrations by Axel Scheffler were retained, something completely new was created. - BT (Daniela Körner)

Hello you two, Thank you so much again for the great theater experience! It was great that we were there! I giggled so much and had a lot of fun! Your Ben, 3.5 years old with his mom from Stuttgart

When Ferencz plays the owl as an English snob, the fox as an Italian daredevil or the snake as a rustic scoundrel with a Russian accent, it is not just pure children's theater, but also a piece of satire - not entirely politically correct, but hilarious. "Pohyb's and Co." slip through all the roles that Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler created in their book in no time at all. Aside from the lovingly designed costumes, a black partition was the only stage prop. It served as a fox's den, the Gruffalo's cave and a dressing room for the actors. They told the story of a little mouse and her clever deception to escape from the menu of three thoroughly shady forest dwellers. But she soon discovers that the Gruffalo does not just exist in her imagination.

The younger part of the audience turned out to be experts in all things related to The Gruffalo. They chanted the name of the title character before they even got to the entrance door and recited whole passages from the picture book by heart. The children were also very excited about the brave mouse. Real screams of panic broke out when the nasty snake tried to approach the rodent from behind. This was immediately followed by malicious laughter as it left, full of fear and having accomplished nothing. The play or the reactions of the audience - it is impossible to say which was the more amusing spectacle that afternoon. Simon Blümer

CÖLBE. “There, behind you!” Many of the children screamed excitedly and pointed with their fingers when the snake crept up behind the unsuspecting mouse, and even more when the Gruffalo himself suddenly appeared. But they laughed even more at the funny noises, movements, facial expressions and conversations and eagerly followed the dangerous path of the little mouse who encounters a fox, an owl and a snake. She avoids being eaten by mentioning her appointment with the horrible monster Gruffalo, who likes to eat “fox skewers”, “owl with icing” or “snake puree”. In the end, however, the Gruffalo, whom she had only imagined, actually turns up. But the brave mouse finally scares the monster away by telling him that her favorite food is Gruffalo porridge. With few props but quick costume changes, the mobile theater “Pohyb's and Co.”, consisting of Maike Jansen and Stefan Ferencz, managed to put on a rousing and poetic performance that was also fun for the adult audience. The support associations of the “Löwenzahn” kindergarten in Cölbe and “Lummerland” kindergarten in Bürgeln thus managed to give the children and their families a wonderful (belated) Christmas present. Not only the kindergarten children, but also siblings and parents were invited.

VELBERT The little theater fans are excitedly sliding around on their bottoms. It's finally about to start. He's coming. Who? Well, the Gruffalo. A star of the children's room scene, who the target group - bookworms from the age of four - otherwise only knows from picture books. Today, however, they will get up close and personal with him in the central library. The Hofheim children's theater "pohyb's & konsorten" has brought this strange animal with them. Before the Gruffalo and later the Gruffalo child dare to go on stage, a lot will happen, because the story is initially led by a cheeky mouse. It jumps happily through the forest and faces all kinds of dangers. But it is not stupid and threatens the snake, fox and owl that it will soon meet the Gruffalo. Fortunately, the forest inhabitants do not know him and so it describes him as someone who likes to eat "fox skewers", "owl with icing" or "snake puree". Because, it should be mentioned, the animals mentioned actually all have the little mouse on their menu. The forest inhabitants are very respectful of the story of the grey rodent, and the Gruffalo groupies? They can hardly stand it for all the fun. A hesitant laugh can be heard in the first act. This should turn into a screaming "Hahaha" over the course of the afternoon at the theater. Because "pohyb's & co." have it down. Like a good dentist's drill, Maike Jansen and Stefan Ferencz hit the nerve of the kids - the laughing nerve, that is. The two actors ensure great excitement and plenty of humor. Shouts from the children spontaneously involve them in the play. And despite the many characters to be portrayed, there are only two of them. Although no, the "stick man" should not be forgotten here. Although he is only made of wood, he does have his own small supporting role. But to play the other roles, Maike Jansen and Stefan Ferencz regularly disappear behind the black wall and put on new costumes. The wall is the center of the stage. It can be transformed into a cold winter day or even a dark full moon night. Sometimes it is just used for the hunting scenes, which often end in spectacular falls - to the delight of the children. WAZ Velbert, Saskia Baeck)

A worthwhile performance of the story of the Gruffalo in the SCHWAIGERN media library. This mouse is really clever. With courage and self-confidence, it can even put its greatest enemies to flight. The mobile theater pohyb's and co. from Hofheim in Bavaria delights children in the Schwaigern media library with the picture book story of the Gruffalo. The performance, which the media library organized in collaboration with the Schwaigern bookshop, sold out in no time. Stage A total of 130 children and adults fill the seats in front of the small stage. Then the spotlights come on. Maike Jansen as the brave little mouse quickly wins the hearts of the audience, both big and small. Light-footed and carefree, she hops through the forest, singing "schubdi, schubbedidu, dubdi" to herself all the time. With her big ears and watchful eyes, she quickly becomes the darling of the performance. But the mouse does not live alone in the forest, and many an animal would like to eat her for breakfast. Stefan Ferencz takes on the role of the fox, who hypocritically invites the little animal into his den with a Spanish accent. "At my place, a la casa, there is jelly," he entices the mouse and tries to catch it. But the mouse suspects his devious intention and invents the Gruffalo, a monster with sharp claws and long tusks. She supposedly wants to meet him right away, she has an appointment with him, explains the mouse, thus scaring the fox away. But the owl with English slang also has its sights set on the little forest dweller. "Come on, I'll invite you for tea," it sounds seductive. The mouse again uses the Gruffalo and finally meets the Russian-speaking snake, who almost manages to hypnotize the little four-legged friend. After all, all the animals are afraid of the mouse and her big friend. And in the end, the mouse actually does meet her mythical creatures - and manages to outwit the Gruffalo too. Facial expressions Maike Jansen and Stefan Ferencz brilliantly transform the picture book story, written by children's book author Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, into an exciting performance. The facial expressions are impressive and with little scenery the duo manages to captivate the children. It's great how Stefan Ferencz imitates the animal sounds and portrays the characteristics of the forest inhabitants. RNZ, Gabi Muth