The Captain of Köpenick

A German fairy tale by Carl Zuckmayer

Wilhelm Voigt knows: after prison comes before prison. To get a job, he needs a residence permit. To obtain a residence permit, he needs a job. He lacks both; he has none of it. In a captain's uniform found at a flea market, he becomes the commanding officer who takes control of the town hall in Köpenick and has the mayor arrested – solely to have a passport issued for himself. Playfully, almost accidentally, and in perfect military German, he showcases the state order in order to secure a chance of survival within it. Director Sebastian Hartmann stages the legendary shoemaker as a rough puppet show and lively marionette theater. A farcical comedy with a Wilhelmine sense of order in a Kafkaesque state and a bureaucracy twisted in on itself... For more information: Website Staatstheater Cottbus