Garbage, the City and Death
31 October 2015 marks the thirtieth anniversary of an event that proved historic not only in the theater world: In 1985 members of Frankfurt am Main’s Jewish community occupied the Kammerspiel theater’s stage to prevent the performance of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s play “Garbage, the City and Death.” Since then debates about the play have continued, smoldering in the German theater world and reflections on the modern history of the city of Frankfurt. Perhaps this thirty year anniversary of the event can provide an occasion to reflect anew on both the play and the stage occupation, which drew attention around the world. Such reflection does not entail criticizing the action taken at the time or casting doubt on its legitimacy as a form of protest. Rather, separated from this event by a generation, it is time to reconsider it as part of the attempt to find possible answers to questions that remain virulent: Is Fassbinder’s play anti-Semitic and/or does it serve to underpin anti-Semitic resentment – or is it a play about anti-Semitism that can help illuminate and educate? Can the play contribute to discussions of anti-Semitism today, its causes and consequences, and what can be done to counter it? The symposium marking this anniversary coincides with the publication by Nomen Verlag of the book “Der Müll, die Stadt und der Skandal” (Garbage, the City and the Scandal) which includes contributions by Michel Friedman, Reiner Diederich, Birgit Seemann, Armin Pfahl-Traughber and Peter Menne.
Saturday, 31 October 2015
7 p.m.: Discussion with contemporary witness Trude Simonsohn Moderator: Ulrike Holler
8 p.m.: Chronicle of events
with Karlheinz Braun and Marion Victor
Staged reading from Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s “Garbage, the City and Death”
With: Edgar M. Böhlke, Alexander Brill, Wilfried Elste, Michael Herl, Birgit Heuser, Reinhard Hinzpeter, Peter Kupke, Sonja Mustoff, Cornelia Niemann, Willy Praml, Michael Quast, Ellen Schulz, Wolfgang Spielvogel, Regine Vergeen, Rupert von Plottnitz, Michael Weber Director: Wolfgang Spielvogel
Tickets: 16 / 12 / 8 €
Sunday, 1 November 2015
5 p.m.: Fassbinder’s “Garbage, the City and Death”: An anti-Semitic play? A play about anti-Semitism?
Discussion with Hermann Alter, Petra Kunik, Peter Menne and Günther Rühle
Moderator: Ulrike Holler
8 p.m.: Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia Today
Panel discussion with Elisabeth Abendroth, Prof. Armin Pfahl-Traughber, Esther Schapira and Dr. Birgit Seemann
Moderator: Ulrike Holler
Tickets: 8 / 6 / 2 €
More information:
The Gallus Theater is located at Kleyerstr. 15 in Frankfurt am Main, Route: http://www.gallustheater.de/info/anfahrt.php Tickets: Tel. 069 / 758 06 00 and http://www.gallustheater.de/php/prog.php The symposium is taking place with the kind support of the gbs – Giordano Bruno-Stiftung and the Cultural Department of the city of Frankfurt am Main.