Initiator Thomas Bonk about the project and why the musical is so important
“It's time to honor the people and their great performance”
This phrase might sound a little bit lofty, but it's meant seriously and wholehearted. Because the people who deposit the basis for lot of generations in the Ruhr Area were our great-grandparents. Only someone who undergone the tragical fates and haunting stories, which are hide behind the great era of coal & steel, is able to relate to those. We like to tell you these stories and keep them alive in a breathtaking show, which will haunt and fascinate all people, especially the people in the Ruhr Area.If the last mines will be closed in 2018, the great time of the industrial culture in the Ruhr Area will only be told in
museum's. The hoist frames and steel mills will be silent witnesses of a long-forgotten era. Also the memories of the lastminers and steelworkers will be evanesced and will be become forgotten one time.
museum's. The hoist frames and steel mills will be silent witnesses of a long-forgotten era. Also the memories of the lastminers and steelworkers will be evanesced and will be become forgotten one time.
It's time, to make the old ruins come alive. To tell the old stories in a new way and give them to the next generations. The “Ruhrgebietmusical” makes a substantial contribution. It will keep the story of the area alive in the hearts of the people as an entertaining and fascinating show. Told in a way, you've never seen before. Staged up-to-date and prevailing in front of historic sceneries. It's not possible to give the people their work in the mines and steelworks back, but we can honor their great performances and conserve it for the upcoming generations. This is my vision.During my historical investigations I came across lots of haunting moments. That my great-granduncle died during the big catastrophe in the mine of Radbod in 1908 I learned only from my work on this project. While looking for traces to his person I came back to my own familial basics. The quest takes me up to the border of Kaliningrad in Russia, where Ferdinand Bonk lived until 1898 before he moved to the Ruhr Area to look for new work. His fate is an example of the fate of about 1 billion people, who hoped for a new future in the Ruhr Area.
To get the feeling of a miner of the 19th century by my own, I visited the mine “Graf Wittekind” near Dortmund. There I went down the mine to learn in which harsh industrial environments the people of 1878 were winning coal. The emotions and impressions I experienced there had an direct influence on my musical and artistic work.. I made an expedition in Wuppertal, to get a look into the life in the Ruhr Area in the early years of the industrial revolution. The fate of the women and children there was very haunting to me. Also the conversations with the miners of "Radbod". Unforgettable moments, which lead me more an more to the opinion, that this story has to be recorded for the upcoming generations. I know for sure that also in the future many people will be stoked by this theme, in the same way my whole team and me are stoked by it.
This musical will close an important gap in the Ruhr Area. That means the presentation of the own history, in the form of an fascinating and haunting play, which will have an big occasion to all people, especially the people in the Ruhr Area. In view of the structural change, it is necessary to sustain this area cultural and commercial and to increase the attractiveness. This musical will make a substantial contribution to this mattter. We will provide new jobs and sustain the tourism of the whole metropolis. But this will only work, if we all combine our strength and get the support of the people in the Ruhr Area, the government and the economy in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Deshalb freue ich mich, wenn möglichst viele Menschen unsere Idee unterstützen. Der Weg bis zum Ziel ist noch weit. Aber wir sind überzeugt, dieses Ziel mit euch gemeinsam erreichen zu können. Mir ist es wichtig, möglichst viele Menschen für diese Idee zu begeistern, und an diesem Projekt partizipieren zu lassen. Und ich bin mir sicher, so wie uns dieses Thema fasziniert hat, so wird es auch die Menschen in der Ruhrmetrople und darüber hinaus faszinieren.
Therefor I'm glad, if as much people as possible will support our idea. It's still a long tramp to our destination. But we are confident to reach this destination together with you. For me it's important to enthuse as many people as possible to this idea and let them all participate in this project. I'm sure, this theme will haunt and fascinate all people, especially the people in the Ruhr Area as it has done to me-.
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Yours Thomas Bonk