地点　CHITEN

The First World War made mass carnage possible with the invention of the tank and the machine gun. Fatzer is one of a group of soldiers who desert from their trench and are hiding out in a basement. There they wait for a revolution that will end the war. But as they wait, their solidarity disintegrates and dies. Brecht’s play is a tale of despair but nonetheless has his trademark humor.

Chiten presented the premiere in Japan of this unfinished work by Brecht. The original “fragment” is a long 500 pages of verse and notes, and Chiten’s staging utilized the version edited by Heiner Müller, Downfall of the Egoist Johann Fatzer, as well as elements unused in the Müller text. The “rock” production was created with the band kukangendai, featuring cacophonous electronic music with resonating gunshots and dying screams that intermix with the actors’ voices to weave a dynamic yet tense atmosphere. Since its premiere in 2013 it has been widely recognized as one of Chiten’s most innovative works and found a popular following among younger audiences. In 2015 it tours to China and Germany.