In the theatre, sparks sometimes fly – but not often do they fly as literally and impressively as in this world premiere from Vienna’s Akademietheater. In his production of Wolfram Lotz’ “Die lächerliche Finsternis“, director Dušan David Pařízek not only dismantles all conventions but also has his splendid quartet of actresses chop up parts of the set. All male parts are played by four women, like the “black Negro from Somalia” – in an ironic game of racisms and political correctness, the author has this character first study Piracy at Mogadishu University and now defend himself before a Hamburg district court. Or German soldiers and Italian UN-officers with fake moustaches, making earnest conversation in the Afghan jungle. Lotz draws on Joseph Conrad and Francis Ford Coppola for his motives, and inserts current world issues into an absurd neo-colonialist plot. In his “Speech for the impossible theatre”, Lotz says: “The impossible theatre is the eternal demand!” Pařízek has met this demand with anarchic gusto.
