A drama in the heart of democracy
Fabian Hinrichs plays a populist politician in the Federal Press Conference building who deliberately seeks to sow discord: ‘A citizen of the people’.
It's an idea that sparks spontaneous anticipation: Shortly after the state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg and, as luck would have it, directly after the AfD scandal in the Erfurt state parliament, Fabian Hinrichs plays the founder of a populist party called the ‘Democratic Alliance’, which has just won 44.2 per cent of the vote in the fictional ‘Free State’ and can be elected minister-president with an absolute majority.
And this scenario is not being played out on a traditional stage, but in the Federal Press Conference building, the ‘heart of democracy’ as its chairman Mathis Feldhoff calls the institution, which has been in existence for 75 years and where real politicians usually give account of their actions.
Can theatre be any closer to current events? Probably not, which raised expectations.
The play was written by Munich-based constitutional lawyer, journalist and author Maximilian Steinbeis, who has explored and explained right-wing populist strategies in his insightful books.
It is being staged by the independent theatre collective Nico and the Navigators, co-founded by Nicola Hümpel, who also directs. As dusk slowly envelops the Chancellery on the other side of the Spree, the drama of an irreconcilable rift between the federal and state governments unfolds in front of the famous blue wall in press conferences and video recordings.
This is because the Minister President, brilliantly portrayed by Hinrichs with a charisma that is at times imperious, at times awkward, refuses to enforce federal law in his Free State and grant residence permits to people entitled to asylum.
What happens in such an issue? The federal government can send a federal commissioner to investigate the situation on the ground. And if the state does not cooperate? Then the only instrument left to enforce law and order is the federal coercion described in Article 37 of the Basic Law. It has never been used. What might that look like? Everything is heading towards this question. This is interesting as a thought experiment and informative as a lesson in civics.
As a play, however, it falls short of its potential. The setting demands a level of authenticity that poses problems for the actors. Their overly accentuated, syntactically flawless speech seems strangely artificial in the arena of rhetoricians with no training in articulation, and the dramatic music is also disconcerting. It is reminiscent of Ferdinand von Schirach's didactic plays, which are loosely woven but similar in structure.
In its two hours, the ‘citizen of the people’ never gets boring. But it doesn't grab you either.
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