Michael Ende

„What is mirrored in a mirror mirroring a mirror?“ This fundamental question from Zen meditation is what Michael Ende’s surreal poetry collection "Der Spiegel im Spiegel" (The Mirror in the Mirror) is based on. And indeed – when the Zen speaks of the “wayless way” or the “gateless gate”, the “Mirror in the Mirror” has to offer incredible stories full of illustrious, mythical characters that tell us of their very own cosmos of beauty, but also of the futility of life and its efforts.
As visual models, Michael Ende uses the surreal paintings of his father Edgar Ende, which had a vital influence on Michael Ende’s complete work.
„Der Spiegel im Spiegel“ (The Mirror in the Mirror) is now available as a radio play from steinbach sprechende bücher, aptly adapted by the Künstlergruppe Mediabühne (www.mediabuehne.de).

The charity production – the main part of the revenues will be donated to Deutschen Muskelschwundhilfe e. V. (German charity for sufferers of muscular atrophy – unites the voices of Mario Adorf, Uwe Friedrichsen and Carlo von Tiedemann, and it appears like a who’s who of the synchronisation industry, including Joachim Kerzel (Dustin Hoffman), Helmut Krauss (Marlon Brando) and Tobias Meister (Brad Pitt).

Provided with a wonderful soundtrack of cinematically orchestrated music, this radio play turns into an authentic acoustic-surreal adventure, leading us through Ende’s parable like stories. It is not only the question that gave the work its title that seems enigmatic. Also the protagonists – the son with his wings created in dreams, the bridegroom in the room that is a desert at the same time – appear like wanderers between imagination and reality. The atmosphere is Kafkaesque, always the same gestures, which all seem to result in meaninglessness. Criticism of an inhuman society and the longing of the individual for freedom and ways out of a life’s labyrinth full of paradox entanglements – those are the central points of this amazing work.

Michael Ende: Der Spiegel im Spiegel
(The Mirror in the Mirror)
The first letter. The first unit
steinbach sprechende bücher
in cooperation with the Künstlergruppe Mediabühne
Radio play with Mario Adorf, Uwe Friedrichsen, Andreas Fröhlich,
Joachim Kerzel, Helmut Krauss, Manfred Lehmann, Oliver Rohrbeck,
Jens Wawrczeck, Hans-Jürgen Wolf and many others.
2 CDs, € 17,99 (D)
ISBN 978-3-86974-070-6