Play about fascism causes violent scenes at German theatre

"The provocative, prize-winning play from 2020 tells the story of a family with a macabre annual tradition: to avenge the murder of farm worker Catarina Eufemia, a real-life resistance martyr shot and killed in 1954 during the Salazar dictatorship, they kidnap a fascist each year in order to execute him during a family feast. Over the course of the play a generational conflict breaks out between bloodthirsty parents and their more squeamish adult daughter about what means are justified to defend democracy."

"At the end of the last act, the year's chosen victim, a far-right party functionary, delivers a 15-minute monologue laying out a nightmarish extremist agenda. As the actor Ole Lagerpusch launched into the incendiary speech, the audience became increasingly agitated, the theatre spokesperson Alexander Kruse said. At first, people began whistling and heckling, insulting Lagerpusch and urging him to stop. An orange was thrown at the actor, narrowly missing him."

"Furthermore, two spectators mounted the stage, apparently with the intention of dragging [the] actor off the stage, which was prevented, he said, calling the assault completely unacceptable. Martin Krumbholz of the culture website Nachtkritik.de, who was at the Bochum Schauspielhaus to review the play, said Lagerpusch persevered despite the hostile reaction and managed to deliver his chilling last line: The future belongs to us."

Catarina, or the Beauty of Killing Fascists premiered in Bochum and portrays a family's annual tradition of kidnapping and executing a fascist to avenge Catarina Eufemia. The play frames a generational conflict between bloodthirsty parents and a squeamish adult daughter over justifiable means to defend democracy. During the German premiere, an actor delivering a 15-minute monologue as a far-right party functionary provoked whistles, heckling and insults. An orange was thrown and two spectators mounted the stage trying to drag the actor off, an attempt that was prevented. The actor persevered and completed the monologue, ending with the line: The future belongs to us.

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