Spiel mir das Lied von Knittelfeld
or the puberty of the FPÖ
"1986 - I was allowed to vote for the first time when Haider took over the FPÖ. Then they got stronger and stronger until Knittelfeld, the place of their first downfall. They keep coming back. I've been dealing with this party my entire adult life. "
The rise of the FPÖ supposedly ended for the first time on September 7, 2002 in Knittelfeld. The so-called third camp lay in ruins after the "coup". What remained of it after the new elections in November 2002 split once again years later. There was no talk of Ibiza then. In the meantime, the Freedom Party is polling at thirty percent, as if all the scandals, collapses and party expulsions had done nothing to affect it.
We observe two technicians converting a hall. They are removing the decorations from a previous event and putting up new ones. One of the technicians is older and obviously "autochthonous Austrian", the other is very young and has a migrant background. The "Party Congress" of 2002 crops up again and again, leading the two of them into their own world of experience and to their very special showdown.
This evening is based on conversations with people from Knittelfeld at the time, participants and experts. In 2002, Austria was quite unusually a pioneer in Europe. While everyone else thought that right-wing extremism in Europe had been overcome, the party representing it in Austria was torn apart for the first time.
WITH
Rupert Lehofer, Zaid Alsalame .
EQUIPMENT
Helene Thümmel, Heike Barnard
TEXT CONTRIBUTIONS
Christa Zöchling
CONTEMPORARY HISTORY CONSULTING
Karl Stocker,
CONCEPT, DIRECTOR
Ed. Hauswirth, Rupert Lehofer
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
Clara Eröd-Danzinger, Christina Romirer
Based on an idea by David Reumüller and Karl Stocker.
Commissioned by steirischer herbst ʼ24
Produced by Theater im Bahnhof in co-production with steirischer herbst ʼ24 and Communication24-Knittelfeld
https://www.steirischerherbst.at/en/program/artists/6465/theater-im-bahnhof
https://www.communication24.at/#Spiel-mir-das
(Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator)
