EWS – Der einzige Politthriller der Schweiz (“Switzerland’s only political thriller”) brings the drama surrounding the prominent politician Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf to the stage. In 2007, the unassuming member of the Graubünden cantonal government caused a stir when she was elected as the Swiss People’s Party’s first female Federal Councillor instead of Christoph Blocher. The play features 11 actors playing Widmer-Schlumpf. Each wearing the same grey two-piece, pearls and wig, they recount, comment on and sing statements made about her at the time. All of the lines are taken from original quotes, newspaper articles, interviews and film clips and are cleverly arranged to create an entertaining parody while also documenting a piece of Swiss political history. EWS – Der einzige Politthriller der Schweiz was performed for the first time in October 2022 at the Theater Neumarkt, where it sold out again and again throughout the season, and was featured in the Sélection category at the Swiss Theatre Encounter in Fribourg on 1 June 2023.
Theater Neumarkt: Julia Reichert & Piet Baumgartner
The Theater Neumarkt was founded in 1966 and has become known as an innovative, experimental theatre with its own ensemble. Dramaturge Julia Reichert took charge in the 2019/20 season together with Hayat Erdoğan and Tine Milz. Born in Munich in 1983, she completed a degree in theatre, film and media studies in Vienna and trained in theatre and music management in Munich. She has worked for a number of local theatres in German and Swiss cities since 2008. She was a dramaturge at Theater Neumarkt from 2011 to 2013, then at the Schauspielhaus Zurich, the Theater Freiburg i. Breisgau and the Luzerner Theater. Piet Baumgartner, born in Rapperswil (canton of Bern) in 1984, is a director and visual artist with a transdisciplinary approach encompassing film, theatre and visual arts. He worked as a journalist before studying film direction at the Zurich University of the Arts. After training with Andrej Wajda in Warsaw, he was assistant to Frank Castorf and René Pollesch at the Schauspielhaus Zurich.
Julia Reichert, Piet Baumgartner and their ensemble have really created a hot property with EWS – Der einzige Politthriller der Schweiz. The play is side-splittingly funny when the clones of Eveline scurry around the stage, precise down to the last crease of their grey two-pieces and changing pace dynamically. It is both quirky and unique, just like the episode involving Federal Councillor Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf. At the same time, it offers a small but concentrated lesson in Swiss political history and a reminder that the machinations of Swiss politics actually have more scope for surprises than people like to claim.
