Labour-Reform Pain Hits German Theater

I have had it! A week ago, I tried to see “Maria Stuart,” a Schiller play, in Munich. There was a strike by the stage designers! So the actors basically sat on chairs and read the text. When I protest and say “this is not what I paid for,” I am told that this IS the “full performance”--because they will speak each word of the play! So, what do we need those stage designers for, if the “product” is just the actors speaking the text?

A few days later, at the beginning of a performance of “King Oedipus” in Heidelberg, the director of the theater appears with a union representative, thanking him (I repeat: thanking him) for the fact that everyone appeared at work today. The union guy then gives an inflammatory speech, about “too much stress.” To which, I respond – to the shock of the audience – “Stress is good!”

Yesterday, the performance of “Macbeth” in Munich is cancelled – due to illness! What???

Germany has twice as many theaters as the entire U.S. German governments have pumped money into the arts for decades. At one point the cultural budget of the city of Frankfurt was 25% of the entire city budget. Berlin continues to have three opera companies and dozens of orchestras. So now–finally--the budget of some cultural institutions is being cut a little–and everyone screams!