Robert Woelfl

In Familien Unternehmer Geister, Robert Woelfl continues his series of plays about the world of work and the economy – and now turns his focus to the topic of family businesses.

"Take over the company already.”

Michael, the father, is the second generation to lead the business. And he wants his son, Jannis, to take over the day-to-day activities. The banks only want to give a sorely needed loan (which could save them from bankruptcy) if the succession is arranged and an energetic manager will implement the needed changes.
Only Jannis refuses, he doesn’t want to take over the company, doesn’t want to make a meaningful contribution to society. He doesn’t want to take over mountains of debt, he doesn’t want to attempt suicide, as his father did multiple times. Truth be told, Jannis only wants to go boating on a racing boat.
In his opinion, his sister Leonie could take over the company. But Leonie doesn’t see that as her place in the family. “I think and feel as an heir… I endorse inheriting and going extinct.” Jannis’ mother Katja also doesn’t understand him. “I wanted to be hated and envied. Seeing how the people around us were eaten up with envy always made me happy.”

In a grotesque sequence of scenes, Robert Woelfl shows how nothing works anymore in this family business and in this business family, and how they assert themselves as a self-sufficient system against all odds.

"Take over the company already.”