A LITTLE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Thomas Bernhard's Histrionics meets Bernd Eichinger's The Downfall: Three actors are preparing for a panel discussion about the possibility of portraying Hitler. Since the host has not arrived yet, they chat on an empty stage about their profession and hit on a basic problem right away: Is the stage really empty? Is it not already occupied with questions before anyone ever enters? Two of the men have already played Hitler, the third only Goebbels so far, but all this was for the big screen. Would the theater make different demands on them? Hitler was a real person after all, and theater is obliged to depict reality, is it not? Culture war erupts and rages in an almost fundamentalist way between the old "con of naturalism" and today's "radical pack" which prefer to fill their shows with video and trashy music. In the midst of their conversation, the three gentlemen become aware how deeply they have fallen into the theatre trap. Actually they were to have this conversation later, in the presence of an audience....