The Neverending Story

The Deutsche Theater München presents a production of the Salzburg Landestheater

Journey to Phantásia

A grand, fantastic journey, a philosophical mind game and a world drama: Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story opened up a new view of the world for whole generations of young reading fans. The celebrated stage version from the Salzburg Landestheater now comes to Munich for an exclusive guest performance with all the well-known characters such as the lucky dragon Fuchur, the Kindliche Kaiserin and Atréju.

Michael Ende’s Bestseller

What would the world be without fantasy? What significance do theater and literature have for our lives in an increasingly digital world? How would people interact if they could no longer tell each other stories? These and many other questions are the center of Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story. The novel was on the bestseller lists for almost sixty weeks after its publication in September 1979. To this day, the fantastic story continues to delight young and old reading fans around the world.

The heirs of Michael Ende, who died in 1995, have given John von Düffel the task of adapting both parts of the novel for the stage. This only authorized acting version had its Austrian premiere at the Salzburg Landestheater and is now coming to Munich for an exclusive guest performance. In order to bring Phantásien to life, the actors and actresses work closely with the puppeteer Richard Panzenböck, whose concept of puppetry brings the fantastic creatures of the “never-ending story” to life.

The Plot

In real life, Bastian Balthasar Bux is a chubby teenager who flees from the taunts of his classmates to Mr. Koriander’s antiquarian bookstore. There he discovers a strange book that magically attracts him: The Neverending Story. It leads him to Phantásia, a fantasy world threatened by nothingness. He learns about Atréju, the Kindliche Kaiserin, the lucky dragon Fuchur and all the fascinating creatures of the parallel world of Phantásia, and suddenly seems to be part of the story himself.

Michael Ende

Michael Ende (1929 – 1995) is one of the best-known German writers and also one of the most versatile authors. In addition to books for children and young adults, he wrote poetic picture books and books for adults, he wrote plays and poems, and many of his books have been adapted for films, radio and television. In 1960, he achieved his breakthrough as a children’s author with Jim Knopf and Lukas the Locomotive Driver. He has received numerous German and international literary awards for his literary work. His works have been translated into over 45 languages.

Trailer