The Stoppable
27 September 2024. It's all crazy, says Mathis Feldhoff, head of the Federal Press Conference. I don't just think that tonight, replies playwright Maximilian Steinbeis after the premiere. That's what it sounds like when reality overtakes fiction, when theatre can no longer keep up. The senior member of a state parliament ignores rules of procedure and parliamentary rights, savours his Hindenburg moment on behalf of his right-wing extremist party leader, until the whole thing ends up before the state constitutional court.
Reality beats fiction
In another free state, the new state government denies refugees all rights and refuses to allow any investigation by federal authorities until Berlin takes the unprecedented step of imposing ‘federal coercion’ to restore constitutional order; the government spokesperson denies that there are scenes of civil war in the free state. Which of the two scenarios is reality, and which is merely the product of an imaginative author's mind? And how far is fiction from reality?
Not far at all, according to Maximilian Steinbeis. As a lawyer, journalist and founder of the ‘Verfassungsblog’ (Constitutional Blog), he has played out a ‘what if’ scenario in his ‘Thuringia Project’. He was not surprised by what the AfD staged in the Thuringian state parliament on 26 September. In an interview with Mathis Feldhoff, he made it clear that this was to be expected if one asked what would happen if a powerful party abandoned all parliamentary and legal norms. ‘This opens the door to a lot of abuse.’
Ongoing press conference
The play ‘Ein Volksbürger’ (A Citizen of the People), a further development of Steinbeis' five-year-old text “Ein Volkskanzler” (A People's Chancellor), is, despite the seriousness of the subject matter, also a farce. In Nicola Hümpel's production, the audience experiences over two hours of a continuous press conference with changing personnel – from the staunchly racist district administrator (‘Don't get me wrong, we have nothing against foreigners’) to the concerned NGO spokesperson. Fabian Hinrichs shines in the role of the free state's sole ruler Dominik Arndt, who has modelled the party abbreviation of his ‘Democratic Alliance’ on his own initials, with shark-like charm and an endless stream of words. As a skilled populist, the egomaniacal ‘DA’ leader oscillates between conventionality and blatant threats; his speciality is subtle aggression. He masterfully practises seizing power in the BPK (Berlin Press Conference) by ousting the press conference chief (Klara Pfeiffer) – for later.
While the journalists in the hall who ask questions and interject remain clichéd figures, Annedore Kleist is convincing as the government spokesperson who, when in doubt, retreats to platitudes and tries to conceal her own helplessness with a smug smile. Theo Koll makes a nice guest appearance as Theo Koll; interestingly, he exudes more seriousness in his own role than in his everyday life as a correspondent. It may be that under the pressure of recent state election results, even a long-serving ZDF anchorman is losing his sense of humour.
Terribly ridiculous
It is comforting, at least, that the rise of the dictator proves to be haltable, at least in this play: Dominik Arndt flees to ‘a land where lemons bloom’ and, in predictable megalomania, quotes not only Goethe but also Kant. The fact that his pathos resembles that of Björn Höcke is by no means purely coincidental. And when he crows Puccini's ‘Nessun dorma’ at the end – vincero, vincero-ho! – the hope remains that he is mistaken: this terribly ridiculous figure will not prevail.
Or will he? Who knows – after 26 September in Erfurt.