Pegida auf der Bühne. Volker Löschs Das Blaue Wunder in Dresden

Das Blaue Wunder, first performed in January 2019, responds to right-wing populism in Germany. While owing much to the political theatre of Erwin Piscator and Sergei Eisenstein, the play avoids agitprop, instead involving the audience in a discussion between right-wing populism and democratic values, with statements from AfD propaganda opposed by the voice of democratic counter-movements, represented by rave musicians and civic protest groups. The play is a workshop production by the artistic director Volker Lösch and two young authors, the stage dominated by a huge steel construction of a ship, occupied by right-wing sympathizers, while their opponents form a chorus in the foreground. This article discusses the problem of presenting the right-wing in a realistic way while maintaining a satirical element. The figure of the “deutsche Michel” represents the politically naı ̈ve German, ready to accept any compromise. The play’s missing fifth act propels the action into the future, where the audience will have to choose between the opposing solutions, its epilogue inspiring hope in the political activism of Dresden’s young generation. (HH, in German)

Art · Chorus · Compromise · Democracy · German · Humanities · Literature · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Populism · Right wing · Sociology · Arts, Culture, and Music Studies · German legal, social, and political studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies · Sociology and Education Studies