Endsieg - The Second Coming

Shortly after Donald Trump's re-election as US president, Elfriede Jelinek wrote Endsieg - The Second Coming, a sequel to her play Am Königsweg (On the Royal Road), and, as so often, prophetically anticipated the future: While demonstrations against Trump are now being held under the slogan «No Kings», Jelinek already depicts him as an absolutist monarch who egomaniacally proclaims a new world order – drawing on ancient patterns: «A being at the end of history, whose renewed empowerment has led humanity to put an end to civilisation itself.» (Die Zeit)
«An enlightening evening, an illuminated abyss, at once capable of overcoming the paralysis following the US election results and fuelling fears about what lies ahead for the world, not just the Western world.» (Die Welt)
«Endsieg is one of Jelinek's best texts ... It is now about the people who voted for Trump and crowned him their ‹savior› ... One would love to laugh about it if it weren't all so horrible. Because, of course, the announced threats to the achievements of liberalism and democracy are looming large.» (Hamburger Abendblatt)
«An impressive text ... Elfriede Jelinek's play attempts to expose the mechanisms behind Trump's power structure. She unmasks the radical networks behind him: young men who are already eyeing power themselves ... Theatre is rarely so relevant, so politically topical.» (3sat Kulturzeit)