Bad Kingdom

What happens to a society when more and more people lose faith that the future can be better? In »Bad Kingdom«, people come together who are trying to regain control of their lives in an increasingly unstable world. They are searching for love, security and a sense of belonging, whilst around them political certainties are crumbling, social conflicts are escalating and fears of social decline, war and an authoritarian future are growing. Who benefits from this fear? Why are anger and powerlessness increasingly being mobilised by the political right? And what happens to our relationships when the crises of the outside world encroach ever deeper into our private lives?

In »Bad Kingdom«, Falk Richter combines political analysis with deeply personal stories about loneliness, desire, family and the longing for closeness. A group of actors moves between a film set, a therapy room and a societal end-times scenario. Time and again, reality shifts: roles are swapped, stories are retold, certainties dissolve.

»Bad Kingdom« was created in 2024. Two years later, in a present that has undergone radical political change, the production returns to the stage of the Schaubühne after a lengthy hiatus.

Falk Richter was born in Hamburg in 1969 and worked for many years as a playwright and theatre maker at the Schaubühne. He subsequently directed productions at numerous German­speaking and international theatres and was voted Director of the Year (Theater heute) in 2018 for his production »Am Königsweg«. From the 2023/24 season, he is going to regularly work again at the Schaubühne.