Original manuscript page of 'Krabat' (The satanic mill)

Very early Otfried Preussler also was a playwright. He has wrotten almost all theatre adaptations of his books himself. There is no children´s theatre in German-speaking countries where his plays haven´t been enthusiastically received.

Otfried Preussler designs his stage versions as simple as possible, with clear plots and with a language which is easily comprehensible. He wants to entertain his audience, he wants to make it laugh and offer it the chance of getting enchanted and of being carried into another world.

Already the structure of his stage versions reflects the principle that simple children´s stage plays should make use of simple means. The more reduced they are, the more the children´s imagination is aroused and challenged.

Nowadays, the children´s stage plays written by Otfried Preussler are among the plays most frequently performed on German-speaking stages. Far more than 2 million visitors have seen his plays on stage during the last two decades - in a school theatre or on renowned stages in big cities. 'The Little Witch' and 'The Robber Hotzenplotz’ were performed more than 500 times in 1999/2000.