Abstract: The play Schillers Schreibtisch (Premiere: May 2, 2013) explores the narrative of a replica of the desk belonging to the German poet Friedrich Schiller in Weimar. This replica was crafted by inmates of the Buchenwald death camp to safeguard the original from potential damage during the Allied liberation. The fragments of the play delve into Nazi ideology, specifically focusing on euthanasia and the systematic mass murder of disabled individuals, all while highlighting Schiller’s work. Notably, among the seven actors, only two appear to be without a mental or physical disability, with Down Syndrome and Autism represented among them.

Details: A group of people of all ages are led into a house by a young man with Down syndrome. The man shows the group around, who are amazed by the furnishings, which consist only of desks (one in the back being Schillers). They go to a room beyond the stage - there is a sound of astonishment, and then the group, now hooded with paper faces, returns to the stage, and sits down at the desks. A middle-aged man removes his mask and tells of a visit to Schiller’s house, where he found a drawer full of rotten apples on the desk. The man says that Schiller always keeps rotten apples in the drawer to create a quiet work setting. At the same time, a loud clacking sound is heard, caused by the pen tapping of the other masked men. The young woman stands in front of those seated and ensures silence with a loud “Good morning.” A school-class-like scene follows, in which the woman dictates sentences to the sitters. The dictation picks up on the Nazis’ division of human beings into unworthy and valuable life. At the word “Ballastexistenzen” there are difficulties in understanding, and the word has to be spelled out in chorus. Some characters, especially those played by disabled people, still mispronounce the word afterward. An older gentleman is illuminated, who seems to be a professor. He asks the young “Wilhelm” which persons he would help as a doctor – “Hitler” and “the Nazi gang” he replies. He continues questioning and implicitly suggests to young “Karl” to “redeem” people with chronic pain by giving them a lethal injection, which is met with incomprehension by Karl. All students are played by a young woman. In a trilingual monologue, two older men and a young woman recite work-fetishist phrases and sentences. The woman speaks Swiss-German, the men German and French. The Magdeburg Glockenspiel is heard. One of the gentlemen climbs onto a chair and delivers a laudatory speech on “Schiller as a National Socialist.” The speech integrates Schiller’s work into a Manichean, German-nationalist worldview. Slowly, the other characters gather in front of the table where the speaker is standing. Then everyone sings the Ode to Joy, the singing sounding brittle and crooked. A re-purposed, parodic version follows. The professor begins again with a Nazi-styled speech. The supposed suffering of the sick or disabled, and the need for their “redemption” is used as legitimation for an anti-human rhetoric. The speaker then recites the biography of a high-ranking Nazi that ends with his hanging in 1948. Another apartment tour follows, and it seems to be the apartment of a young woman. There is loud jumbling and chatter about the furnishings. When the guests go out onto the balcony, “Peter” tells of an experience of abuse by a group of young Nazis, though it is not clear what the assault consisted of. The trilingual monologue returns with the same characters. The sentences performed are more difficult to understand, revolving around “a heart to find a heart”. The bell of Buchenwald is heard, very sombrely. Slowly a rough clacking sounds, caused by filled metal cans which shake the figures slowly and fast. A model train with rotten apples runs on a ropeway above the stage. The buzzing of a glass rim tunes in and the shaking becomes louder, more energetic. Once again, only the professor and his students are illuminated. Their conversation again deals with the end of suffering through euthanasic “redemption” - the subject being a dog. The scene moves to the desks - the professor asks which of the figures wants redemption. Some do and leave the stage. Two figures, represented by apparently disabled actors, refuse. The Brockhaus entry on euthanasia is read out, once from the early 19th century and once from 1934, the latter again referring to the supposed common good that euthanasia would strive for. The last two figures who had remained at the tables now leave the stage. Subsequently, several figures read out the sanction of a euthanasia law, which marks so-called “hereditarily ill” as unworthy of life and legitimizes their eventual extermination. Nazi texts and neutral reports are alternately quoted. Once again, the desks are examined, this time accompanied by incomprehensible snatches of conversation. Only the material of the desks and the name Schiller are exclaimed. The atmosphere turns into everyday chatter between the two older gentlemen and the young woman. They try to guess neologisms, which repeatedly revolve around the term “Buchenwald” and the associated concentration camp. Then it gets dark. All except the professor sit down. The professor urges that suffering animals must be murdered with “lethal injection.” The lecture takes on much more aggressive and propagandistic overtones than before. When the student cannot answer correctly, the professor asks Karl, this time portrayed by an actor with a disability, if he has already thought about suicide. Karl climbs onto the desks and dances to “Jedem das Seine”, offering rotten apples to the others. The group then discusses Schiller’s death, his illness, and his last words. Several fragments from Schiller’s works are recited, and the professor uses a Schiller puppet. The group shifts desks, and tips two of them on Schiller’s table, after which everyone but the professor sits downstage. The professor interrogates the other characters on topics such as patriotism, death, and blackmail. The questioning turns into a casting. The roles of the tiger, the damsel, the lion, two leopards, a lady-in-waiting, and a knight are auditioned for and assigned. The group then simulates Schiller’s play Der Handschuh, with the desks leaning over each other serving as a stage. The simulated play ends with a dance performance of the knight, which is accompanied by rock music. At the end of the actual play, the characters sit down again at the left edge of the stage. Together they sing the Buchenwald song.