Abstract
The Hogelmann family is at the dinner table. The mood is tense – Martina’s dad doesn’t like her clothes, Wolfi is playing iPad at the table, and Nick hasn’t tidied his room. And then there’s salad instead of schnitzel – again! Suddenly, an extraordinarily strange creature appears. It looks like a cucumber, calls itself «King Kumi-Ori the Second,» claims to have been driven out of the cellar by his subjects, and asks for asylum. Martina und Wolfi think the Gurkenkönig is downright disgusting, Grandpa calls him an authoritarian, Nick’s curiosity is piqued, and Mom tries to mediate. Dad is the only one who takes the Gurkenkönig’s side and agrees to let him sleep in his bed. He’ll even make his favorite dish: old potatoes with sprouts! It’s enough to upset the family, and it's only because Martina and Wolfi stick together and Nick finally reveals a secret that can avoid catastrophe...
The witty and enigmatic 1972 story about the domineering, arrogant and egotistical king of cucumbers (parallels to living people are of course purely coincidental) has been awarded the German Youth Literature Prize, filmed and adapted for spoken theater. Now we have commissioned the Australian-German composer Samuel Penderbayne – he recently composed Fucking Amål and Die Schneekönigin for the Staatsoper Hamburg and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, respectively – to turn it into an opera that will keep more than just children enthralled. Claudia Blersch, who has extensive knowledge of Christine Nöstlinger and has already successfully staged Konrad oder Das Kind aus der Konservenbüchse on our Studiobühne, puts the King of Cucumbers in the spotlight.