A youth theatre project based on Bertolt Brecht's "Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe oder Reich und reich gesellt sich gern" is coming to the stage at Schauspiel Frankfurt, a collaboration between director Martina Droste and 10 young people. And that's what the play is about:
Dividing people for the purpose of devaluation, exclusion and oppression is part of a hierarchical order of the world. How does racism work and why? In his "Abominable Tale" of the Roundheads and the Pointedheads, Brecht puts his answer to the question right at the beginning: "It is the difference between rich and poor". He wants to justify this thesis with his "parable on the world". The starting point is an economic crisis in the fictitious "State of Yahoo". The rulers install a dictator who deliberately divides society in order to put down a social revolt by impoverished farmers who no longer pay rent. An inclusive and multilingual youthful ensemble follows Brecht into parts of his experimental set-up. Using elements of Brecht's "Lehrstück method", the ten players plunge with relish into images and constellations of figures, letting themselves be driven by the texts and a rhythm that forces them to constantly change perspectives. Their own experiences and basic patterns of racism in the art world of Jahoo rub up against each other in the search for common ground in multiplicity. (Text: Schauspiel Frankfurt)
