"Awake!" – Play by Horst Pühringer

Under the title "Awake!" the Protestant preacher Hans Cummerer (1589), as recorded in the parish chronicle, delivers a fictional speech to the peasant warriors. It is the eve of the great rebellion, and the speaker pulls out all the rhetorical stops to convince the humiliated and oppressed people, tormented by the occupying power of Bavaria, of the "necessary" uprising. It is a war willed by God that will restore freedom. Objections—mainly raised by women farmers—are countered, and everyone is rallied to the common cause. Cummerer appoints Fadinger and Zeller as leaders. Then, the conspiracy group receives news from Lembach, where several Bavarian soldiers have been killed. The next morning marks the beginning of the uprising. Finally, they sing together the Luther hymn "May God be gracious to us."

With the preacher's skillful rhetoric and charisma, a movement is ignited. Religious, social, economic, and political arguments are strategically employed, thus sparking a rebellion that was doomed to fail from the outset. In doing so, associations with the present are to be made: Where and how are we influenced? What is the state of values like freedom and democracy? Where does information begin to turn into manipulation?