Küchenoper

Libretto by Margrit Dürr (G)

Dr. Schmack is the new cook at a day care center for children and prepares very tasty meals for the kids. However, he did not reckon with the small grey kitchen mouse who was primarily interested in the contents of the pots. The female mouse is already very sick from hunger. She has long dreamt of sitting at the table with the children and not having to live from the food scraps on the floor. Full of expectation, she sneaks in among the children. Unfortunately, she did not think about the chef, who considers a mouse at the table to be rather disgusting. Yet, the mouse finds a loyal ally in the kitchen helper Cornelia, who has a big heart for small rodents. With the active support of the kitchen helper and the children in the audience, the mouse wants to outwit the chef. Dr. Schmack poses the mouse with three challenges: never jump on the table, set the table, and teach the kitchen assistant a pre-meal saying. If she passes these three tests, she may take a place at the table and share the meal with the children. With a lot of luck and the help of the children in the audience, she succeeds.

Frank Schwemmer’s Kitchen Opera is aimed at children from the age of three, but is also suitable for elementary school children and young people. The story develops out of an everyday situation in familiar surroundings that kids can understand. Interaction plays an important role during the course of the story. The children are constantly encouraged to actively participate. They make music (sing, play on kitchen instruments) and influence the story (make suggestions, play along, give agreed-upon musical signs). And everybody learns one thing above all: how important and nice it is to share with others.