MoonDream & PlanetSound

Shadow puppetry about the polymath Johannes Kepler

Astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer Johannes Kepler opened mankind’s door to the cosmos with his calculations of planetary movements. And: he is our university’s namesake. In a play between light and shadow, The Circus of Knowledge takes audiences on a fantastic journey back in time to recount the life and times of the great natural scientist and polymath.

The twins Jo and Jo embark on a journey into the past with a strange traveling companion and run into the famous astronomer and natural scientist Johannes Kepler. They follow him through his troubled life in troubled times: war, expulsion, his mother being accused as a witch, prompting him to defend her. Nevertheless, Kepler was not to be dissuaded from his research. Astronomy was his specialty, but other things also sparked his curiosity: What do snowflakes look like? How does an image form in the eye? How do you stack balls? And he wrote the world’s first science fiction story: his dream of a trip to the moon.