Fictional escalation on stage
Federal Press Conference as a stage
The independent theatre company Nico and the Navigators, originally founded in Dessau, has put on a play together with Berlin actor Fabian Hinrichs.
This building on Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin, where the Federal Press Conference is based, has never seen anything like it: a play in the hall familiar from television images, where representatives of the government and opposition, parties and associations normally answer questions from the media.
Close to reality
The production currently being shown is called ‘Ein Volksbürger’ (A Citizen of the People), with the subtitle ‘political farce’ – so that there can be no misunderstanding. Especially since the distance between reality and fiction is not that great. The play is about a special kind of ‘what if’: What if a populist were to win an absolute majority in a federal state (called ‘the Free State’) and break away from the constitutional order of the Federal Republic of Germany?
The premiere of ‘Ein Volksbürger’ took place one day after the scandal at the constituent meeting of the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt, where the CDU faction called on the state constitutional court in a dispute with the AfD over procedural issues. This gave the play additional explosiveness.
The independent theatre company Nico and the Navigators, originally founded in Dessau, produced the play written by Maximilian Steinbeis together with Berlin actor Fabian Hinrichs. Director Nicola Hümpel, lead actor Fabian Hinrichs and dramaturge Andreas Hillger collaborated on the script. Steinbeis is a lawyer, journalist and author who runs the Forum Verfassungsblog. The Federal Press Conference has now provided the stage for a fictional political escalation – featuring, among others, the ‘real’ journalist Theo Koll as a guest, playing himself.
Power-hungry populist
The production thrives on the magic of Fabian Hinrichs, who celebrated triumphs with the late René Pollesch at the Volksbühne in Berlin. Hinrichs plays the charming populist who wants power and sweet-talks everyone with gibberish. It's all just theatre, right? Lots of applause at the end for Hinrichs and the whole crew. But it's not really a mood for celebrating.