Cast

“I'm better than you, I'm the best!” puppeteer Michael Lurse tells the premiere audience. We all know these phrases from childhood. Back then, we said what we thought openly. Or we provoked others with feigned self-confidence. Today, we tend to think such things secretly. Or, on the contrary, we ask ourselves whether we are good enough.

The play “Balance” at the Helios Theater is a practical-philosophical theater experiment for people aged eight and up. Barbara Kölling's production combines simple elements with video installation, puppetry with powerful texts by Kölling and Lurse. It is about happiness and balance – in nature and in human actions.

At first, the auditorium falls silent. The audience of around 50 watches as Lurse does a headstand on stage and maintains his balance for a few moments. Then he sets the pendulum in motion – a pipe dangling from the ceiling with a sand-filled bucket hanging from each end. As the pipe moves, sand trickles out and draws a circle on the floor.

Lurse pulls up a wooden cart with eleven dolls. “There were many people before us,” he says. One by one, he takes the dolls, introduces them to the audience, and lines them up along the circle. There is, for example, the woman who always had such colorful dreams. She painted them and became a famous artist. Next come two who were constantly afraid. They built a safe house with a fence around it and accompanied their children to school. And the miner wanted his children to have a better life than he did, so he worked day and night. He developed a cough and died young. It becomes clear that in life, it's all about finding the right balance.

The lights are dimmed. Small lamps illuminate the puppets so that their bodies cast large shadows on the screen. A video film shows athletes competing. The sandy area also becomes a projection screen. Small colorful figures dart across it. By now, the magic of the play has completely captivated the audience.

There are only a few children in the premiere audience, but they too gaze spellbound at the stage, happily accepting the stick with the little plush bee when Lurse talks about the solidarity of the bee colony. About the difficult time in winter. Everyone hums along together.

Once again, the Helios Theater manages to touch the audience with few props, quiet poetry, and a strong presence. After 45 minutes, everyone is allowed to take a piece of paper home with them. On it is written, for example: “You can be anything, the whispering of leaves, pulsating life. All you.” 

MARION GAY

Monday, 29. September 2025, Westfälischer Anzeiger Hamm

Foto: © Frank Bruse