Translated by Øyvind Berg
A grotesque and hilarious classic about life's disappointments, dreams, and brutality.
In The Presidents we meet the cleaning ladies Erna, Grete, and Mariedl gathered around the kitchen table in a basement apartment. Here they take us on a journey from life’s disappointments and bitterness to their dreams, longings, and fantasies. From the kitchen table, they unfold the whole world, on a hellish journey through European culture—from religion to politics, from the history of ideas to the grotesque body. Here, humanity’s escape from a dirty and unbearable reality into a beautiful, dreamlike fantasy world is revealed through burlesque and humorous language and an immense love for the little person.
With the rapid rise of right-wing populist and neo-fascist parties in Europe, it is once again time to revisit the works of European theater’s enfant terrible, the Austrian playwright and 1990s star Werner Schwab. He grew up in poverty in Graz, in an Austria where the atrocities of Nazism were hushed up and the Church’s abuses were silenced. His entire body of work was characterized by exposing the hypocrisy, double standards, and dark forces smoldering beneath the surface.
The "Presidentesses" made him a rising star in the theater world—an uncompromising playwright who wrote 16 plays in just four years before drinking himself to death at the age of 35. His grotesque humor, exuberant language, and relentless social criticism made him one of the most talked-about artists of the 1990s. His entirely unique writing style eventually came to be called “Schwabian,” in which he invented words, deliberately made mistakes, and played with syntax, wordplay, and expressions. An enormous talent who died far too young—the Kurt Cobain of the theater.
Kilden is now staging Schwab’s explosive debut, directed by Marie Nikazm. She is known for her strong visual style and her ability to create intense, playful, and uncompromising expressions on stage. With The First Ladies , she breathes new life into a satirical masterpiece—just as brutal, moving, and relevant today as ever.
Theater Publisher: Nordiska ApS
