THE KICK

Andres Veiel / Gesine Schmidt

Croatian premiere; Split City Puppet Theatre, 17th September 2009

Director: Martin Kocovski
Starring: Trpimir Jurkic, Snjezana Sinovcic, Duje Grubisic, Marko Petric, Lana Hulenic,
Anastasija Jankovska
Stage designer: Ozren Bakotic / Costume designer: Sonja Obradovic / Music by: TBF

A play you cannot get rid of that easily. It creeps into your brain and sinks its teeth deep inside you, making you toss and turn in your bed for nights on end.
Eva Behrendt, Theater Heute, 6/2005

Based on a real event that shook Germany, and developed from a series of interviews conducted by the authors, Andres Veiel and Gesine Schmidt, with two of the perpetrators, brothers Marcel (17) and Marco (23), their parents and the victim Marinus’ (16) parents, The Kick is an extremely shocking and direct accounts of juvenile violence. The prosecution of the three boys who murdered one of their peers just for fun, out of sheer boredom, the downfall of their families, the dilemma of forgiveness and responsibility that faced the wider community, are just some of the issues dealt with in this drama. The drama looks at the movement of radical right-wing skinheads, whose attitudes have been formed by fashions rather than clear aims, who use an iconography rather than ideology that they are not much familiar with as a means to impose themselves, to try to take up a dominant position and evade their usually negative social environment. Uncritical reflection on the past, lack of empathy and tolerance, the reluctance of the wider community to face the problem before it escalates: these are some of the questions posed by the play. The Kick addresses the audience directly. Shockingly frank confessions by the perpetrators create a cathartic effect on the audience. A live account of pain, it is the cry of both the perpetrators and the victims.
The Kick has already conquered stages throughout Germany and has participated in the European Drama Festival in Chile. A film based on the play, by the same name, has won a number of awards at European film festivals, and Evangelischen Filmarbeit Juryvoted it the Best Film of 2006.

The play is intended not only for the young but for their parents too.

The play will be staged at the Split Puppet Theatre, which will collaborate in its production, and at the Split Youth Theatre.

We hope this play will encourage drama group students to write and stage short plays related to this topic.