Romulus der Große | Eine ungeschichtliche historische Komödie in vier Akten von Friedrich Dürrenmatt

In the organizer's words:

The Roman Empire is collapsing, but Emperor Romulus hardly seems to care. Despite the rapid advance of the Germanic troops under the commander Odokar, he remains calm and has no intention of letting his breakfast be disturbed by bad news. It is much more important to him that his chickens, all of which bear the names of great Roman emperors or philosophers, lay good eggs. After all, breeding poultry is his passion. Since Romulus took over the rule of the Western Roman Empire 20 years ago, he has only looked after the cackling birds. His palace is as run-down as the whole country. His finance minister has just fled with the state coffers, forcing him to pay his employees with one of the last leaves from his golden laurel wreath. Romulus' wife Julia and the remaining members of the court are very worried about the world-shattering news and call on the emperor to finally do something. But Romulus is not even thinking about it. He is also unwilling to accept the offer of the wealthy trouser manufacturer Caesar Rupf, who would invest millions in saving Rome if he were to marry Romulus' daughter and wearing pants were declared a civic duty.

With his laziness and lack of interest, the emperor drives his comrades-in-arms to despair. What they do not suspect is that Romulus is actually pursuing a higher goal with his apparent lethargy. He is deliberately working towards the downfall of the Roman Empire, which in his view does not deserve to continue to exist, and he sees himself as the judge of his degenerate fatherland.

Friedrich Dürrenmatt's comedy takes place from the morning of March 15 to the morning of March 16, 476 and makes references to the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. However, he only drew very loosely on history and used it to create an amusing and at the same time analytically sharp model for thinking about the collapse of highly developed civilizations, which perish because of the opulence and arrogance with which they make the whole world happy. At the time it was written in 1949, the allusions to nationalism and war were obvious. Dürrenmatt regularly revised this timelessly topical text until 1980. The setting and characters in "Romulus the Great" are absurdly comical. At the same time, a grotesquely sharp-witted analysis of political and social contexts shines through in this story about the "imperial chicken farmer" and "world judge disguised as a fool", as Dürrenmatt himself calls him. A typical Dürrenmatt!