Werner Schwab

Eskalation ordinär
Ein Schwitzkastenschwank in sieben Affekten
2 D, 4 H, St
UA: März 1995 · Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg · Directed by: Karin Beier
“More mustard. More hot mustard all over me.” The out-of-work Helmut Brennwert is at a fast-food stand bracing himself for his job interview at a bank. His fiancée has threatened to leave him if he doesn’t get the job. The very man he is supposed to be introducing himself to smears Brennwert’s only good suit with hot mustard. A descent that began long ago gathers speed. One humiliation follows the next. Brennwert is sworn at, trodden on, demeaned, violated and treated like a dog. He becomes the ‘filthy pig’ and the doormat that all of society apparently needs to feel good about itself. He only once manages to get something like attention. He goes on a rampage about the reactivation of the German oak forests and scores points all round, even with the old couple that watches every movement of his downward spiral with varying degrees of pleasure. His fame is short lived: “Once again, I’m unemployed and alone.” And: “I hope there is no eternal life. I hope there is no eternal unemployment.” Helmut Brennwert tries one last time to prove his worth: he sets himself on fire.
The unique language of the author, his “Schwabian”, is comparatively mild in ESKLATION ordinär. But what the play diagnoses is far from mild: unemployment as the greatest accepted misfortune in a profit-driven world.