Dunkeldorf - Ein Stadtspiel.

In the organizer's words:

July 27, 2000, 3:03 p.m., Düsseldorf: A bomb explodes at Wehrhahn S-Bahn station, injuring ten people, some of them seriously. An unborn child dies. The victims had just arrived in the country as repatriates and so-called quota refugees, many of them Jewish. From one day to the next, they lost their hopes, prospects and sense of security as a result of this brutal act of violence - until today. Since the devastating attack 23 years ago, two major phases of investigation, a committee of inquiry, court proceedings and countless discussions in urban society have only led to more questions. Where is the justice?

The theater collective Pièrre.Vers brings together actors from urban society who were and are involved in various ways in coming to terms with the attack in a chamber play. Representatives of the police, press, Antifa and those affected raise questions once again in a process of collective remembrance: Why was the crime never solved? Were the police blind in the right eye or did the press obstruct the investigation with its media fire? Did Antifa make it too easy for themselves by pointing the finger to the right? Or were the facts of the case as well as the profiles of victims and possible perpetrators clear from the outset? The victims remain silent, but that doesn't mean they don't have a cause. Who has to justify themselves to whom? Who can blame whom? Who bears responsibility? Why do we forget, when do we remember?

Following their successful four-part series "Historification" and the examination of Nazi crimes in Düsseldorf, director Christof Seeger-Zurmühlen and author Juliane Hendes are now retracing the more recent history of the state capital with "Dunkeldorf" and asking: What does it tell us about our culture of remembrance when forgetting sets in after just twenty years?

'Dunkeldorf' has made it onto the shortlist for the Berlin Theatertreffen 2024. An independent jury of seven theater critics viewed a total of 690 productions in 82 cities in German-speaking countries and agreed on the best 43 productions of the season, which were included on the shortlist and hotly debated. In addition to 'Dunkeldorf', only four other productions from NRW made it onto the shortlist. A final selection of ten productions is invited to the Theatertreffen each year.

In the coming years, the theater collective Pièrre.Vers will artistically deal with events of right-wing violence in the recent history of the Federal Republic of Germany and will receive, among other things, top funding from the state of NRW.

What the press said:

"The evening dismays and enriches. Once again, it proves a weighty dimension and the enormous potential of theater: to bring history up close and personal, to give life to memories whose half-life is apparently decaying ever more rapidly." (nachtkritik)

"Author Juliane Hendes and director Christof Seeger-Zurmühlen succeed in creating a polyphonic, demanding picture of the events, which can stand pars pro toto for a fundamental problem of the Federal Republic of Germany: for the eternal underestimation, relativization, ignoring of right-wing terror, attack after attack, murder after murder." (Theater today)

"Documentation and interpretation are artfully kept in balance in 'Dunkeldorf'. This is a strength of the theater collective, which has also been visible in other productions." (Rheinische Post)

Venue: 34OST
Oststraße 34 (in the former Conrad Electronic)
40211 Düsseldorf
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Ticket prices:
VVK 28 euros, reduced 14 euros
Box Office 32 Euro, reduced 16 Euro
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Duration: approx. 90 min.
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The event is barrier-free for wheelchair users.

Price information:

Ticket prices: Advance booking 28 euros, reduced 14 euros Box Office 32 euros, reduced 16 euros