Bühne Frei!: Der Selbstmörder

"I don't think much of the suicide play. It's empty and even shameful. Nevertheless, I have no objection to allowing the theater to try it..." - Joseph Stalin (shortly before he banned the play)

Corruption, scarcity, increasing censorship - it is the late 1920s in Russia and Semyon is in the middle of it all.

Semyon is unemployed, listless and, above all, hungry. So he sneaks into the kitchen at night for a piece of liverwurst, but his wife Masha mistakes it for a revolver and fears that he might want to harm himself. The rumor quickly spreads around the house and soon spreads far and wide. And suddenly all sorts of people turn up at Semjon's door: Priests, butchers, intellectuals, artists and neighbors taking bets, all with the aim of using Semjon's death for themselves and their goals. And somehow there is also a bass tuba, a banquet, sugar eggs and a revolver.

What is worth dying for? For love, religion, the Intelligentsia or something else entirely? Semjon can't decide, but the prospect of dying as a hero fascinates him more and more. He enjoys the attention and importance that is accorded to him and finds himself increasingly conflicted...