A heartwarming story for the whole family: “Ferdinand the Bull” tells the story of a gentle bull who refuses to fight.

A Story for Everyone

Ferdinand the bull lives in a green pasture in southern Spain. While his friends train for the bullfight, he prefers to sit under a tree and smell the flowers. One day, men from the city come to select the wildest bull. Ferdinand trots over to his tree and is about to sit down in the shade. Then something completely unexpected happens….

As Europe was rearming in 1936 and nationalist violence was increasingly supplanting humanity, Munro Leaf’s children’s book was published. “Ferdinand” was immediately banned—in Franco’s Spain as well as in Hitler’s Germany. This new production features two Ukrainian artists and brings the story painfully close to the reality of our time.

“Ferdinand the Bull,” familiar to many children and their parents as an animated film, is now set to draw families to the open-air theater. Casting a Ukrainian actress as the narrator is also intended to broaden the audience. The event is organized by Restaurant du Coeur in Basel. For years, the “Resto” has been offering refugees jobs, giving them the opportunity to shape their own futures.    The “Resto” brings together culture across all genres: from musical and literary projects to gastronomy. After all, food is culture, too.

Two plays, one stage—no coincidence

Following the huge success of the open-air production of “Medea,” starring Sarah Spale in the title role last summer, the theater company Texte und Töne will once again take the stage at the Kreuzmatt Open-Air Theater in Sissach this August. In addition to the revival of the acclaimed production, the family play “Ferdinand the Bull” will now also celebrate its premiere on the circular stage.

The decision to combine both productions is based on solid reasons—both organizational and thematic. Setting up the round stage—built specifically for “Medea” on the Nebiker grounds—is a complex undertaking. After the nearly sold-out summer of 2025, which was celebrated by both audiences and the press, it was clear to those in charge: this stage should be used again, and this time for an even wider audience. At the same time, Claudia Adrario, a singer and actress appearing in the *Medea* production, approached the organizers with the request to stage *Ferdinand the Bull* on this very stage.

The shape of the stage is the connecting element between *Medea* and *Ferdinand*. A white, wooden circle, surrounded by a row of chairs that cannot be moved. Medea or Ferdinand are “trapped” within the circle of chairs. Medea is subjected to the rejection and violence of the people of Corinth. Ferdinand finds himself in the bullfighting arena in Granada. His fate seems sealed.

Cast:

Narration & Vocals: Claudia Adrario, Kateryna Zhuchenko | Guitar: Uli Pfleiderer | Cajón: Lukas Jösel | Violin: Luba Ogorodnuchyk | Artistic Director: Kaspar Geiger | Text (based on Munro Leaf): Claudia Adrario | Production Manager: Andreas Daniel Müller | Technical Director: Jan Gubser


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.