More than a decade ago, the judgments in the National Socialist Underground (NSU) trial were pronounced. Important questions about the terrorist group and its supporters remain unanswered. Instead, the investigation into the racist murders committed by the NSU operating in Germany from 1998 onwards has been overshadowed by significant controversies: evidence hastily destroyed by authorities, a questionable network of informants within the far-right scene, and biased police investigations that even labeled the traumatized families of the victims as suspects.
Far less noticed was a piece of literature that allegedly served as a blueprint for the NSU and other neo-Nazis worldwide: The Turner Diaries, written in 1978 by American Nazi William L. Pierce. Considered one of the most influential texts in the international far-right scene, the novel depicts an underground terrorist cell destabilizing the system through bombings and assassinations, sparking a worldwide white revolution. Copies of this dystopian novel were found on the computers of the NSU.
Playing Earl Turner brings together documentary material and fictional literature. Through the juxtaposition of NSU trial transcripts and scenes from The Turner Diaries, a disquieting scenario emerges that fundamentally questions the narrative of lone perpetrators. Using documentary images and sound, the performance creates an atmospherically dense experience that, much like its (r)eal inspirations, becomes a play of self-representation, transformation, and imitation, gradually revealing the strategies and ideologies of the perpetrators and the ideological program of an internationally networked far-right terror.
Playing Earl Turner (Austria). By Laura Andreß and Stefan Schweigert. Presented in German with English subtitles.
This event is part of the 2024 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival: Dark Dreams. For more information, visit rehearsalfortruth.org.
Free and open to the public. Suggested donation $10. Seats are limited, on first-come, first-served basis. Online registration is required.
The 2024 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival: Dark Dreams is organized by BBLA and the Vaclav Havel Center. The program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. The festival is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Rehearsal for Truth International Theater Festival is an annual showcase of contemporary Central and Eastern European theater, established in 2017. The festival is a shared endeavor of the Vaclav Havel Center and the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association in partnership with numerous other cultural and performing arts organizations. The festival honors the artistic and political legacy of the Czech playwright/dissident/president Vaclav Havel. We support exchanges between American and European theater professionals and celebrate the power of the theater to transform our lives.