Mr. Biedermann and the Arsonists

The city is plagued by fires. The houses of decent middle-class citizens turn to ashes all of a sudden. The businessman, Mr. Biedermann, can't even light a cigarette anymore because of this. Oh, what kind of world is this today?! Some fires don't interest him. He wants to have peace.

When a bell rings in it, and an unknown person stands outside the door with a plea for shelter. Biedermann lets her on, not out of compassion but out of duty. He must behave as a proper citizen. There will be more to come soon. Unknown guests in the house begin a cycle of grotesque situations. What is this collective of potential arsonists and its mysterious attitudes that turn Mr. Biedermann's life inside out? Does he, with unknown force, sympathize and believe in progressive change at all costs? Or prefer to preserve the status quo and put yourself at risk of conservativism? How to cope with an ambiguous situation? Who to trust? One side has to be the right one. But what if...?

Swiss playwright and novelist Max Frisch wrote the play Mr. Biedermann and the Arsonists under the influence of the experiences of the communist coup in Czechoslovakia, which he witnessed with his own eyes during repeated visits to Prague in 1948. However, it was not a disposable play, but a grotesque, timeless satire criticizing bourgeois petty bourgeoisie. Through a title that is sporadically mentioned with us, we ask ourselves again the question of how to confront something that is foreign to us and that we cannot or even do not want to understand. Where does the line between solidarity and conformism lie today?

Jiří Miroslav Valůšek, a long-time member of HaDivadla's acting troupe, will feature in the title role of Mr. Biedermann.