Theatrical Assemblies and their Discontents: Representation and Resentment in the Light of a Pandemic

Abstract

This essay analyses the self-proclaimed Querdenken (lateral thinking) demonstrations against the Covid-19 politics in Germany. This reactionary movement shares the assumption of certain artistic activist strategies, that political force lies in such assemblies. As a starting point, a comparison between General Assembly by Milo Rau (2017) and Querdenken is drawn, as both performed a ‘storming’ of the German parliament. Following up on this comparison, the essay develops the tension between the critique of representation undertaken by (populist) assemblies and the phantasmatic assumption of forming a coherent sovereign through the assembly itself. The argument concludes with an emphasis on sharing and division, and an outlook on what can be learned for theatre and performance: to measure assemblies by how they deal with their inherent complexities, asymmetries, and exclusions.