"Extrawurst" in Munich's comedy: It's getting dicey

Created: 06/24/2022, 17:22

By: Katrin Basaran

Great tennis in a stuffy clubhouse setting (from left) Thomas Stegherr as club vice, Heiko Ruprecht as the tolerant Torsten and Gerhard Wittmann, who plays the conservative club boss.

© Sebastian Back/Comedy in the Bayerischer Hof

The satire "Extrawurst" celebrates its premiere on Wednesday in the comedy in the Bayerischer Hof.

"Bergdoktor" star Heiko Ruprecht and Gerhard Wittmann, known from the "Eberhofer" crime novels, belong to the ensemble of the play.

Read our review here:

Holy Bratwurst!

Every summer, tens of thousands in Germany are prepared for their sacrifice, i.e. consumption, on the charcoal grill altar in a devotional ceremony.

According to statistics, around 84 bratwurst per capita end up in our mouths every year.

The bitter satire “Extrawurst”, which premiered on Wednesday evening in the comedy in the Bayerischer Hof, shows that the greasy treat can also trigger a bitter clash of cultures.

"Extrawurst" runs until July 24 in the comedy

It's like this: The general meeting is coming up in the tennis club TC Grün-Gold Lenheide.

The most important item on the agenda is the purchase of a new grill.

It's supposed to be a really great part, with several floors, so that the grilled food distribution is significantly accelerated, club Vice Matthias (Thomas Stegherr) advertises via PowerPoint presentation.

The purchase is almost a done deal when the best player Melanie (Yael Hahn) interjects that it would be a nice gesture to buy a second grill for her doubles partner Erol (Jörg Pauly) – as a German-Turk, he is the one the only one with a migration background in the club.

And as a Muslim, he is not allowed to consume anything that is even remotely contaminated with parts of a bristly beast.

Because "The grill is messed up with pork," as club boss Heribert (Gerhard Wittmann), type of conservative power man, smugly summarizes.

Heiko Ruprecht plays the tolerant Torsten

And now the discussion begins, because Melanie - encouraged by her "I'm fully tolerant" husband Torsten (Heiko Ruprecht) - insists on the second grill as a gesture of respect, a sign of tolerance.

The stuffy, rigid Matthias doesn't want to spend any extra money, however.

Heribert's pragmatic solution would be an old, small gas grill gathering dust in the attic.

Erol doesn't want any special treatment at all.

But is he entitled to it – or not?

A fast-paced argument unfolds, which quickly turns to fundamentals: to religions, the clash of cultures, East versus West, to "do-gooders" and Nazis, but also to the individual's struggle for political correctness and suppressed jealousy.

It's about language, about "getting excited", about "whataboutism", dangerous half-knowledge and clichés.

Between “One can still say that!”, “We are a democracy!” and “We have freedom of expression!” A heated discussion develops into a tense atmosphere that no longer seeks consensus or solutions – but it is exactly the same every day can be read on Twitter and Co. and reflects the state of our discussion culture in a frighteningly clear way.

The audience in the comedy has a say

The highly topical play, which should also appeal to young audiences, was developed by Dietmar Jacobs and Moritz Netenjakob, who also worked on the screenplays for Stromberg.

Michael von Au implemented the template in a wonderfully stuffy clubhouse stage setting in an incredibly funny and spot-on manner, the punchlines and arguments fly back and forth between the grandiosely acting ensemble like tennis balls.

The figures are complex, each revealing abysses that make the audience constantly oscillate between sympathy and antipathy.

The idea of ​​involving the audience as club members is also entertaining.

For example, as in Ferdinand von Schirach's "Terror", it can sometimes decide whether Erol should get his grill or not.

On the evening of the premiere, the voting was relatively clearly in favor of the Turkish-born tennis player.

How the general meeting ends, whether there is a solution to the conflict, is not revealed at this point.

Just this much: "Extrawurst" is the best play in a long time that has been performed on the stage of the comedy in the Bayerischer Hof.