Stefan Schütz

Laokoon
3 D, Chor, 1 Dek
UA: 14.09.1983 · Deutsches Theater, Göttingen · Directed by: Günther Fleckenstein
For this play, Schütz uses the old Greek legend of the Trojan seer Laocoön, but he constructs his own fable from it: the Greek army seems to get weary of the long-lasting siege of Troy and retreats. But the Greeks leave an oversized wooden horse as a present in front of the Trojan city walls.
The seer Laocoön warns the Trojan people, represented by the chorus, of this so-called “Greek gift”, which for him can only mean doom and ruin. The chorus, which in its appearance and its argumentation is similar to a troupe of journalists or politicians from all parties, is chastened by Laocoön. But, with clever words that bring applause, Troy’s leader Priam is able to sweep away all of the chorus’s concerns – like any experienced politician. He is supported by Simon, a supposed Greek defector, who supplies Priam’s Realpolitik with the right arguments. Laocoön goes as far in his fanaticism as to kill himself and his children in order to keep the “Greek gift” away from the city. But even this sacrifice can no longer change the minds of the blinded Trojans. On the contrary: he confirms their prejudice against his revelations and they have now finally decided to bring the horse into the city as a gift of the gods.