"The Numidians, as the inhabitants of a fantasy planet are called in Mainz, have horns: king Tamasse crooked, deformed, his mother Roselane on the other hand, oversized, threatening. They wear glistening apparel. Thus it becomes evident already from the costumes who they are: instinctual, power-obsessed beings. Opposite are the Punians, who come to make peace between the warring planets and have brought the princess Zanaida as a guarantee and bride, accompanied by women in white, in the robes of chaste sisters. They look like human beings except for their third eye on their forehead.

There is practically no stage set, only levels that move vertically and props to make it all the more conspicuous: a wobbly throne of the unstable adolescent king Tamasse, the mirror frame that offers few moments of self-assurance, a monstrous guillotine and sort of space shuttle on which the virtuous Zanaida is elevated, surrounded by lightbeams. Or a flamingo herd through which the Numidians and the Punians strut for political repartee"

Franziska von Busse .WDR. 08.11.2019

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