I like standing here, this is my favourite place, the turtle thinks to itself and sniffs at a flower. But what happens when a new friend shows up, but has a bad feeling about the place and would rather stand somewhere else? Do you then leave the place you have come to love? Do you insist that the other person come to me, no matter the cost? Or do we meet in the middle, unfamiliar to both of us?
With just a few words, the Canadian-American animator, illustrator and writer Jon Klassen has created a whole little universe of feelings around friendship in his new picture book “Out of the Blue” / “The Rock from the Sky”, full of fears and reservations, suspicions and wishes.

His picture book “The Rock from the Sky” is about searching for the right place, also in life, about friendship and destiny: No sooner has the armadillo lured the tortoise away from its favourite spot than a rock falls from the sky right where it was standing. There is not much talk about it, just as there is little dialogue at all, not even with the snake that joins them. But there are plenty of stories between the lines, full of longing, uncertainty and hope.

Patricija Katica Bronić has developed a playful realisation of the picture book for the stage as her first directorial work at JES.

Sensory impressions such as bright light, loud noises or sudden events can be overstimulating or overwhelming for some people. That’s why you’ll find a list of sensory stimuli in “Aus heiterem Himmel” here. They may be good to be aware of for you or someone who is attending the performance with you.

– The audience sits around the performance area. The main performance area is a long wooden footbridge that runs diagonally across the room. There are seat cushions, seating pads and a few wooden benches to sit on. You can choose where you want to sit.

– The audience can see and observe each other.

– The actors sit in the audience multiple times. They make eye contact with the audience. Sometimes they act behind the audience, using the entire room.

– In one scene, a single wooden flower suddenly appears from the bridge. In a later scene, more wooden flowers and plants are unfolded from the bridge.

– There are sound and music recordings, sometimes with a deep, loud bass. In one scene, an actress sings softly. Sometimes nature and animal sounds, such as wind and birdsong, can be heard.

– There are rapid changes of light, flickering and pulsating light as well as coloured light. A disco ball hangs from the ceiling, sometimes creating small spotlights in the room.

– At the end of the piece, it suddenly goes completely dark for a brief moment. This is how the play ends. The light goes back on and the audience is allowed to clap. The actors take a bow.

The following moments in the play can be frightening . These moments can be a little scary:

1) At one end of the bridge, a large, round stage piece hangs from the stage ceiling. It falls down unexpectedly in the first third of the play. The fall is accompanied by a change of light and sound. A loud, crashing noise is played. The actors are startled.

2) A programmed spotlight slowly descends from the ceiling, the light moves through the room and changes colour. The audience can be briefly dazzled. Tense music is played. An actress reacts with fear, screams and hides in the audience.

3) Two actors jump from the bridge into the audience at the same time. Whoever is sitting in that exact spot could be frightened. The action is signalled in advance by the actors’ gestures. Speak to our evening staff if you do not want to sit in this spot.

4) At the end of the play, the programmed spotlight appears a second time. It is suddenly and unexpectedly covered by a green cloth that falls from the ceiling.

If you would like more information about the piece, you can take a look at our Visual Story Board. Here you can find out what to expect in the individual scenes. You will receive information on the most important events and scenes in the play as well as the sensory stimuli contained therein. The Visual Story Board, a kind of picture story, is written in simple language in German.

Click here to access the Visual Story Board.

If you have any concerns or questions, please contact us at ticket@jes-stuttgart.de. We are happy to work out how we can help together with you.

Your first theatre visit

Are you visiting us for the first time? Is this your first visit to the theatre with your toddler? Or with the daycare center? Here you will find information about your visit to the theatre and about accessibility to the performance “Aus heiterem Himmel”.

It is important to us to create a relaxed environment and atmosphere. During “Aus heiterem Himmel” you can leave the theatre at any time. So if you feel overwhelmed or you need to get something, you can leave the theatre at any time. You can also return at any time.

Want to know more about a visit to JES? You can find our FAQs here.