PERSONS

Max Blankschädel - Mützenmax
Lina Glockenstrang - nickname Hinkelina
Father Blankschädel
Mother Blankskull
Teacher Teakettle
His students:
Wasp - Aspic - Bumblebee - Carp
Crow Silvergaze
Time-killer party
Doctor Bellows
Antiquarian Stack of Dust
Police officer clamp
Postman Spoke Flash
A fanatical street sweeper

as well as

The Poetus Wingbeat
The roles of the adults must be managed with dual roles.
Songs are interspersed throughout the plot.

Original in German

ACTION

Max, nicknamed Hat Max, has a problem. He can't grow hair. No matter what he and his parents try, exerting all their physical and financial resources, nothing helps. Miracle doctors come and go, he's teased at school, he has no friends anywhere – in short, life is a nightmare.

Today is particularly bad at school again. Even Mr. Teekessel can't protect him from the torment of his classmates Wasp and Bumblebee. On the contrary, Mr. Teekessel even humiliates him. Max jumps up and flees to his crows, because that's the only thing that still brings him joy.
A visit to the crows that live high up in the cathedral. But of course, Max can't go up there. So all he can do is watch longingly from below.

There he meets Lina, nicknamed Hinkelina because she has one leg that's too short, his new classmate. She's the sexton's daughter, and when the courageous Lina learns of Max's dream, she gets the key, and the two of them climb the tower. Up there, they meet the watchman crow, Silberblick, who sees kindred spirits in them. Crows, after all: nobody likes them, they're mocked, and they have to hide.

.
Watchman crow Silberblick gives the two a tip. She knows a learned man somewhere in the city who had once nursed her back to health and who could surely ensure that Max gets his hair back and Lina gets a healthy leg back. Full of anticipation, Max and Lina head out into the evening.

A scavenger hunt begins, during which they meet the strangest birds, e.g., time-killer Sause, bicycle messenger Speichenblitz, police officer Klemmschelle, a fanatical street sweeper, the living poet statue Poetus Flügelschlag.
Meanwhile, everyone is searching for the two of them. But through their courage and agility, they outrun all their pursuers and arrive early in the morning in front of Archivist Stapelstaub's small shop. But inside, they are met with a great disappointment.

Stapelstaub initially declares himself not responsible for curing baldness or lengthening legs. But after some deliberation, he finds a spellbook among his large shelves containing a charm spell that, while it can't cure Max and Lina, can free the Laughers from their taunting. With this spell, they can conjure up all sorts of things on others: long noses, large ears, bad breath, flat feet, and any other deformities imaginable. With this spell on their lips, the two return, conjure up the very things on the Laughers that they can now laugh at, and show them what it's like to be marked.

The people start to think and leave, ashamed. Max and Lina are still exactly the same as before, but they have now learned to live with their disability.

REVIEWS

Tolerance towards difference is the central theme of Fred Apke's play for young people. Children and adults alike will find warmth, humanism, and humor in this exciting journey through the "hour behind all the others."

(adit – art.)