Ilja Richter - 65 years old and a little wise
On November 24, 1952, a special specimen of humanity was born in Berlin-Karlshorst: there are men, there are women, there are children, but there is only one Ilja- that is the experience I have had in the 10 years we have worked together. Wisdom is not to wait until a great play comes around the corner, but to write it yourself, stage it and put it on the stage of your dream theater for your 65th birthday. Not quite on his birthday, one day later:VERGESST WINNETOU celebrates its world premiere on 25.11.2017 at the Schlosspark Theater Berlin and since there is no point in advertising tomorrow, as it is already sold out, we refer here to the 2nd Berlin performance.19.05.2018 at 4 pm[button size='' style='' text='ILJA RICHTER: "VERGESST WINNETOU"' icon='fa-external-link' icon_color='' link='http://www.schlosspark-theater.de/produktionen/ilja-richter-vergesst-winnetou.html/ID_Vorstellung=845' target='_blank' color='' hover_color='' border_color='' hover_border_color='' background_color='' hover_background_color='' font_style='' font_weight='' text_align='' margin='']
Excerpt from an interview in the Tagesspiegel from 24.11.2017:
Mr. Richter, in a few days you will be performing at the Schlossparktheater in Berlin, the home of Dieter Hallervorden. A friend of yours? Yes, although friendship between us is an elastic concept. Dieter calls me from time to time and says: "Ilja, you always do such beautiful titles. I urgently need one."Something like "Lights out - spotlight on"? Your announcement from "Disco", one of the first pop music programs on German television, is legendary.Oh, that was a long time ago. Just like "Zelleriesalat und Gitterspeise", a Hallervorden program in the 80s. But I recently gave him the title of the current biography "Hallervorden - a comedian gets serious".And as a thank you, he invited you to perform your Karl May revue "Vergesst Winnetou" at his place.Typical Dieter: We sit there and think about titles. At some point, I tell him that I'm working on a program about Karl May. He asks: "What's that? Oh, that's interesting." Then he goes to the computer, checks where there's a free space in the schedule, boom, bang, done. I appreciate that.Hallervorden belongs to a generation that can immediately relate to Karl May. You have to explain it to younger people first.May has a circulation of 200 million. Whether I do the evening or not, May is the best-selling, most successful German writer. I'm interested in this man.As a boy growing up in the 60s, you had to decide whether you wanted to be Winnetou or Old Shatterhand when you played.I dressed up as a cowboy and when I came out of the children's play, I was a western hero. However, my justice-loving father made me aware early on of how the Indians were treated. They were beaten up, their land was taken away from them.What makes a good western movie?That the elementary questions of life are clearly regulated from the outset: You don't do certain things because they're unfair and ruthless, and it's quite clear that they should be fought.The parody "Der Schuh des Manitu" must have been pure horror for you then.Not at all, it was delicious. I also didn't understand why Pierre Brice got so upset and demanded "RRRespect!" for his Winnetou. Of course I'm on the side of the comedians. Bully Herbig made his movie as a declaration of love to Karl May.And now you're doing one too?My Karl May evening will not be a declaration of love to the Western. It's also not about how many books I've read and how wonderful it was with Karl May. I'm putting on an entertaining evening where people are informed, laugh and feel a little sad. I sing, read and speak. And when people leave, I want them to say, oh, that's how it was, I didn't think so. You don't want to bore your customers.