About the work
Die kleine Hexe is the stage version of Otfried Preußler's classic children's book of the same name from 1957. It tells of a little witch only 127 years old — and so, by witch standards, very young indeed — who longs to join the Walpurgis Night dance on the Brocken. She is allowed to do so only if she proves she is a "good witch." Preußler's warm-hearted story, with its clever raven Abraxas, is among the best-loved German children's books and has been translated into many languages. As a play, "The Little Witch" is a fixture of the Christmas and family repertoire of German-speaking stages.
Plot
The little witch is caught secretly joining the Walpurgis Night dance and is punished by the grown-up witches. But she is offered a prospect: if within a year she proves she can become a good witch, she may officially join the dance next time. Together with her talking raven Abraxas, the little witch travels the land doing what she believes are good deeds: she helps poor people and punishes wicked foresters, bullies and heartless adults. At her examination, however, the old witches understand "good" to mean precisely the opposite — and the little witch must defend herself in a surprising way.
Cultural significance
Otfried Preußler's "The Little Witch," alongside "The Robber Hotzenplotz" and "The Little Ghost," ranks among the formative works of post-war German children's literature and has accompanied generations of readers. In child-friendly terms the story explores what "good" and "evil" really mean and sets itself, with a wink, against authoritarian standards. On stage the piece thrives on wit, transformation magic and the likeable defiance of its heroine, and remains one of the most frequently performed children's plays in the German-speaking world.