Читать книгу Westward. Encounters with Swiss American Women онлайн

68 страница из 82

“These wonderful tasks were the best acting school. It was much simpler for me to play such parts as Wendla Bergman in Frühlings-Erwachen (Spring Awakening) by F. Wedekind or Emily in T. Wilder’s Our Town. In this last production Mani Matter played the part of the newspaper boy that I had helped him get when Adolph Spalinger asked me whether I knew a talented classmate who would like to work with our group.

“For three seasons at the theater in Bern I was lucky enough to live with my family, but no one kept tabs on me. I loved the adventurous life in the theater world.”

Linda’s parents were generous. “The restaurants were often already closed after our performances and thus half of our ensemble walked or drove to Spiegel, filled the Geiser house, and raided the refrigerator – though they brought along wine and other beverages. And as the money for stage sets and props was scarce, our furniture was sometimes kidnapped. Chairs, tables, carpets, dresser drawers, plates – and clothes of my mother – caused sensations in various productions. My sister Annemarie also helped out and we played twins in the Christmas production for children. In time our entire family was bitten by the theater bug, and in 1957 my father even launched an amateur theater, the Spiegelbühne, which still exists today.”