Biedermann und die Brandstifter

In the organizer's words:

A lesson without a lesson by Max Frisch

"In our circles, you know, people rarely get caught."

One day, the penniless wrestler Schmitz turns up at the Biedermanns' door. She tells the couple about her difficult childhood. The couple are so surprised that they offer her the attic as a place to stay. They can't imagine that Schmitz has anything to do with the burning houses that have recently caused great unrest in the town. The next day, another needy person turns up and in no time at all there is a second roommate. The Biedermanns are so pleased with their own charity that they are not particularly bothered when their new friends lug barrels of petrol into the attic.
Max Frisch humorously presents the audience with an elite that is too comfortable and wealthy to counter a repressive threat. People become complicit too quickly when their eyes remain closed to the truth.
Lehrstück ohne Lehre premiered in Zurich in 1958. Frisch dispenses with a specific reference to time and place. This gives the drama a universality that shoots society in the present like a flashlight at any time.
Dominique Schnizer, acting director at Theater Osnabrück until 2021, is making his debut at Schauspiel Hannover with his production of Biedermann und die Brandstifter.