Die letzten Tage der Menschhheit

In the organizer's words:

Scenic-musical reading from the Austrian satire by Karl Kraus. With Werner Steinmassl

The First World War began one hundred years ago. Ten million people fell victim to it. One man managed to record the madness. The Viennese journalist Karl Kraus became world-famous with his drama "The Last Days of Mankind". And reviled as a traitor to the fatherland. Because he did not denounce the enemy, which almost everyone did, but unmasked the warmongers and war profiteers in his own ranks. Kraus estimated that the play, which has not yet been staged in its entirety, would take ten evenings to perform: "Theatergoers of this world would not be able to withstand it."

Werner Steinmassl presents a selection of scenes and interprets all the roles. He gives us a revealing look in the mirror. Because we have to ask ourselves, in these still warlike times, how much nationalism and chauvinism is still in us today.

Werner Steinmassl, praised by the Süddeutsche Zeitung as a "brilliant actor of opportunistic characters", reads from Karl Kraus ' "The Last Days of Mankind" and accompanies himself on the accordion.