Rufus Photos and Press

Rufus ante Portas
On the way with a Roman wine merchant

Photos and press

the Trierische Volksfreund:

"... as soon as he is on board the star of Neumagen, the Roman wine ship replica, he pulls everyone under his spell. Because the Roman wine merchant with the telltale red nose knows a lot to tell. Sometimes he tells of his recent encounter with Ausonius, the author of the Mosella, sometimes he wanders off to the followers of the Nazarene Jesus. But most of all, he talks about wine and the finesse of wine making.

That actor Thom Nowotny was able to do that with relish is due to a cross-border project. For the one-man play "Rufus ante Portas" is a component of the "Roads of the Romans", a project under the direction of Mosellandtouristik GmbH (see Extra). Rufus will therefore also appear elsewhere, albeit sometimes as a simple traveling salesman.

His premiere audience has convinced Nowotny, who has been traveling in Trier for seven years, including as Gladiator Valerius. Uwe and Sabine Felzen, amateur actors of the local theater group Mosella Romana, were thrilled. The atmosphere on the wine ship was unique and Rufus had involved the audience with facial expressions and wit, so half an hour was over in no time. The topic was very well implemented and a lot of information had been packed in, praised Jutta Backes-Burr from Tholey: "This is a great advertisement for the Roman history here." The success goes according to Romy Beckius from Luxembourg in particular to the account of the actor, who has convinced in the role of the wine merchant. But the wine ship is a real experience. Son Felix (11) was also having fun. Rufus was funny, and the Romans he had imagined just as men who liked to drink a glass of wine. "