Berlin's Deutsches Theater opens new open-air stage with satire on politicians and billionaires

The Deutsches Theater in Berlin has launched a new open-air stage, inaugurating it with a satirical play titled "Der Gesang des Pottwals" (The Song of the Sperm Whale). The play, which premiered Sunday evening, centers on a director attempting to stage a nearly forgotten opera that requires a sperm whale. The production incorporates parodies of prominent figures, including Chancellor Friedrich Merz, former Chancellor Angela Merkel, and tech billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. In the satire, these billionaires plot to demolish the theater to make way for an arms project. The play also humorously addresses budget pressures within the cultural sector, the eccentricities of theater operations, and perceived political threats from the right. Director Heiner Bomhard, who previously collaborated with artist Rosa von Praunheim, also appears on stage. While the play was conceived before the much-publicized stranding of a whale known as "Timmy," it includes subtle allusions to the event.

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The billionaires want to tear down the Deutsches Theater to make room for an arms project.