The run-down inn in the middle of the sleepy village of Utzbach: here of all places Bruscon, the legendary and famous state actor, stops during his theater tour! Bruscon, who recently also felt called to be a playwright and director, wants to triumph here with the performance of his epochal and confusing human comedy THE WHEEL OF HISTORY. Kierkegaard, Caesar, Metternich, Hitler - of course, Bruscon plays all the main roles, on and behind the stage he is supported by his wife and children Sarah and Ferrucio.

And yet everything here in Utzbach speaks against him from the first second: According to Bruscon, the stage floor is too rotten, the air too humid, the innkeeper too lazy, the country crowd too stupid, the children too incompetent, and the wife too hypochondriac. It would be the greatest disaster, however, if the Utzbach fire brigade insisted on leaving the emergency light on in the hall at the end of the play - because then its staging would be destroyed for good!
"Der Theatermacher" by Thomas Bernhard, long a modern classic, is, strictly speaking, a wonderful paradox: an endless monologue of hate on the theater by someone who lives only for and from the theater. Deep down, it is a great declaration of love for the stage, for all these ridiculously desperate theater people - and for their unwavering belief in the necessity of art. Because no matter how hopeless the situation is: The curtain has to go up, THE WHEEL OF HISTORY keeps turning. Would good art even be conceivable without real megalomania? Bruscon is a prime example of Bernhard's cabinet of figures: on the verge of madness, irresistibly grumpy and opinionated, and unrestrained in the sensuality of his language.
35 years after the premiere at the Salzburg Festival, the echo spaces of the piece's text have noticeably tightened: The final opinions of the art tyrant Bruscon burst right into the present and necessary debates about artistic freedom and abuse of power. At the same time, we repeatedly experience those rants and feedback loops of indignation on the Internet that characterize Bruscon so much. Online everyone can now become their very own Bruscon in their very own Utzbach - outrage for everyone, except for the globe glowing on Facebook!
Kay Voges' new staging of "Der Theatermacher" (including longlist for the Berlin Theatertreffen 2019, an invitation to the NRW Theatertreffen 2019) invites you to a big showdown: Is all the indignation in Utzbach, on the street and on the Internet, an uncontrollable explosive device - or does it fizzle out? With Bruscon's limitless hubris, is it possible to notice the involuntary comedy of the incessant outrage loops?