Gerhard Meister

Gerhard Meister creates a panorama of the time of the historically authentic Pension Comi in Zürich on the eve of the Second World War. At the centre are the owners of the pension, Wolodja and Paula Friedmann. From Jewish emigrants to musicians and unsuccessful revolutionaries, they give refuge to those persecuted by the Nazis. With no end in sight to the flood of refugees, moral questions emerge: can they keep taking people in without ending up in difficulty themselves?
The subject matter is Switzerland’s historical-political dealings with refugees, but through this debate the play also tries to draw parallels with current issues around refugees. The little forgotten stories from back then cast the bigger picture and the migration of our times in another light. (Announcement Schauspielhaus Zürich)