A blind king who deals in real estate, golf courses and casinos has made a fortune, and suddenly rules the USA. And the rest of the world rubs its eyes in disbelief.
On a Balearic island, an Austrian politician promises a rich Russian woman control of the domestic media landscape in order to strengthen her own power, and sells her the countryside along with it. Rivers and lakes become a privatised object of speculation, mountains and valleys are used for lucrative road construction.
The names of the people involved in Blackwater and On the Royal Road are well known, but they don't play a role. In her two highly topical plays, Elfriede Jelinek fundamentally examines the phenomenon of right-wing populism, which spreads like a virus around the globe and poisons the climate, both socially and ecologically.
Between tragedy and the grotesque, lofty tones and corny jokes, Jelinek also self-critically questions her own position and outlines possible forms of resistance.
“Elfriede Jelinek is again the first to feel the pulse of the time.” Süddeutsche Zeitung
“Elfriede Jelinek tracks the catastrophes of the present like no other comparable dramatist.” Der Standard
