Well, theoretically it‘s like you’re having a dialogue and in the background you hear screaming and bombs exploding. Which is not the case. But inside my head, I’m having this soundtrack going on all the time. I’m having a great time with my children though, we don’t always weep and cry at home, we’re having a ball! We’re playing games and I don’t even have to shout: Aaron, please! You can’t – it’s not a matter to laugh about! We’re not supposed to crack a – although I had the jokebook with me! I’ve fetched it from his room! Look!

René Pollesch, one of the most influential theatre makers in post-dramatic theatre, died unexpectedly in February 2024. The Pollesch/Hinrichs production ja nichts ist ok had premiered two weeks earlier at Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Berlin. The long trail of human conflicts, the subject’s inner turmoil in the process of civilisation, the exhaustion of the society – Fabian Hinrichs, who has received several awards as an actor, performs solo in a recycled stage design from Anna Viebrock; the costumes are by Tabea Braun.

Pollesch was last featured at the Wiener Festwochen in 2021 with his successful play Die Gewehre der Frau Kathrin Angerer. A joint production was in planning by Wiener Festwochen | Free Republic of Vienna and Pollesch for 2025. Following his sudden death, it is particularly important to Wiener Festwochen | Free Republic of Vienna to show the final play by this magnificent author and theatre maker in Vienna.