Swiss Outdoor Summer Theater

My wife and I were staying outside of Zurich as we usually do in Switzerland to experience the people and culture of this wonderful country. While hiking along the Sihl River in the Sihlwald Nature Park near Thalwil we happened on the most interesting theater venue either of us has ever seen. It was a former wood mill right next to the visitor center (Besucherzentrum Sihlwald). There is a train stop right there. Posters indicated that a professional theater group, The Turbine Theater, was performing "The Baker's Wife" there that evening. We were able to get tickets to the nearly sold out show and attended even though we understand only the most elementary German. It was a wonderful evening. There was a nice barbecue dinner available before the performance. The acting was excellent. Dialog was secondary. The actors portrayed their characters with such skill that we could follow the story with only a little help from the locals near us. And everyone was so nice to us. They whispered important information to us during the performance and during the intermission made sure we knew what the jokes were. While waiting on the train afterwards we had the opportunity to meet the producer and lead actor, Peter Niklaus Steiner, and some of the others. The experience was wonderful. They answered our questions and also asked us about the U.S. By venturing out of the big city and our comfort zone we had one of the best experiences of our travels. I would recommend that everyone going to Switzerland in the summer check out the group's website, www.turbinetheater.ch, to see what next year's production will be. The performance dates are usually late July into August.