The big white bird, the enchanted gardener, the sad prince, the unicorn princess, and other members of the forgotten queen’s court are travelers from a magical, fairy-tale world. They awaken to share stories and images from their land – which, though forgotten, still holds magic and wisdom.
This extraordinary spectacle features impressive tall-figure characters and energetic heroes moving across the ground. They engage directly with the audience, inviting children and adults to play, explore, and – above all – to feel together. The form of the show allows everyone to immerse themselves in a world of imagination and curiosity, where nothing is forbidden and everything becomes part of a game and joy. Even conflicts and differences of opinion can be solved together – like a team embarking on a journey to an unknown land, where the process of wandering itself is the goal.
Since its creation in 1999, this performance has become a classic of German and European street theatre. The Grotest Maru group has performed “Parade of Narrnia” all around the world.
Grotest Maru creates theatre in public space and site-specific projects, combining visual, object and physical theatre. The group is specialized in intervening in urban and rural space with performative interventions, thus shedding light on relevant issues of an urban or rural society and sharpening perception in public space. The company’s network of participating international artists is characterized by artistic diversity. The ensemble seeks communication that transcends cultural boundaries. It creates its own theater language and creates internationally understandable productions, often non-verbal.
Grotest Maru reaches and touches a broad audience, including audiences, which normally do not have access to theatre, and brings them into contact with challenging content in a low-threshold way. Participatory projects often involve local artists, amateur groups, young people and children.
The company was founded in 1996 in the Kunsthaus KuLe in Berlin and is based in the Kunstquartier Bethanien in Berlin since 2011. The foundation members learned stilt walking and street theatre technics from the Californian Street Theatre Group San Francisco Puppet Theatre Intervention, which were students of Bread and Puppet Theatre, USA.
Grotest Maru has been touring internationally with productions since 1999, often at the invitation of the Goethe-Institut, and has so far performed in 29 countries worldwide: Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Italy, Israel, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Korea, Syria, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA.
Ursula Maria Berzborn and the entire ensemble of international actors, dancers, and performers have been co-creating Grotest Maru since 1999.
Director, costume and set designer: Maria Berzborn (GER)
Musician: Klaus Janek (IT/GER)
Performers: Esther Geyer (ES/GER), Barbara Prądzyńska (POL), Anna Peltola (FIN), Abel Navarro (ARG), Jefferson Perreira da Silva (BRA)
Set coordinator, driver: Mario Niemann (GER)