On Sunday, June 8, 2025, at 20:00, and on additional dates until July 1, 2025, the Münchner Kammerspiele presents Katzelmacher, a play by Rainer Werner Fassbinder with an epilogue by Emre Akal. The production is directed by Akal and features performances by Walter Hess, Stefan Merki, Nadège Meta Kanku, and others.

This gripping play explores the lives of individuals trapped in a provincial setting, yearning for escape yet unable to live with or without each other. Their boredom, jealousy, and financial struggles fuel their prejudices until their aggression is unleashed on Jorgos, a Greek guest worker in Bavaria.

As described by theater expert Peter Eidinger, the characters in Fassbinder's early works are stark and simplistic, breaking conventional theater norms in Munich. The reinterpretation of Katzelmacher, first premiered in 1968, aims to distance itself from the archetypal 'young wild' image associated with Fassbinder's work. The stage is transformed by a door flanked by video graphics, leading to surreal settings including oversized plush cats and a horror-themed diner reminiscent of the Addams Family.

This 90-minute performance, conceptualized by director Emre Akal and the artistic duo Mehmet and Kazim Akal, retains the themes of alienation and racism. However, Fassbinder's central character, Jorgos, is stripped of his name and language. Edmund Telgenkämper remains persistent amidst the distancing techniques, while the ensemble, including Annika Neugart, Annette Paulmann, and Stefan Merki, creates an atmosphere of peculiar suspension with a blunt, observational language.

In the end, the foreigner attempts to voice fundamental human concepts like 'love' and 'reason,' but they are drowned out by the chaotic sounds of the stage. The powerful imagery resonates deeply, leaving the audience captivated.