Actors revive important historical and contemporary speeches, experts analyze the rhetoric and background. In comparison, the inaugural speeches of three very different American presidents (Roosevelt, Kennedy, Trump) illustrate historical developments in the Western world. The evil thinking of Heinrich Himmler is disempowered by the sharp analysis of Hannah Arendt. In different ways, both offer deep insights into the mindsets of totalitarian regimes.
The inaugural speeches of three very different American presidents.
Inaugural speeches play an important role in the democratic ceremonial of the United States: they shape an entire term of office and are often remembered for years afterwards. It is not just the issues that the new president is addressing, but rather a vision for an entire country that is expressed in style and content, and a very personal understanding of politics and morality.
The Wortwiege presents three different approaches to this exercise: Franklin Delano Roosevelt assumed the presidency in the midst of the 1930s depression and had to restore confidence to his fellow citizens. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, on the other hand, took office as a young president in a time of renewed optimism and the Cold War. The contrast between these visions and the gloomy picture that Donald John Trump painted of his country in his two inaugural speeches highlights the differences in the respective philosophies and self-evident truths.
Exceptional actor Horst Schilywho was admired last year as Socrates, embodies both F. D. Roosevelt and Donald Trump this time, while the former castle actor Lukas Haas J. F. Kennedy lends his youthful charm. In order to classify and analyze these different discourses, the long-time ORF correspondent in Washington and Falter-Radio creator Raimund Löw shares his insights and assessments.
Acting: Horst Schily, Lukas Haas
Discussion guest: Raimund Löw
Set: Jérôme Junod
Moderation: Anna Luca Krassnigg
Costume: Antoaneta Stereva Di Brolio
Make-up: Henriette Zwölfer
A production by Wortwiege, funded by the state of Lower Austria and the city of Wiener Neustadt.
National Socialism and its antidote – with Heinrich Himmler and Hannah Arendt.
This edition of Reden! brings together two sources that could not be more contradictory. In the so-called “Posen speeches”, the Nazi Reich Interior Minister Heinrich Himmler addressed the SS in camera and gave a deep insight into the mindset and ruthlessness of the Nazi regime. The philosopher Hannah Arendt, who had to flee Germany for America, was interviewed in 1969 for the program “Zur Person” and spoke about her experiences and the thought patterns of totalitarian regimes, which she dealt with in depth, not least through her analysis of the Eichmann trial (1961). The legendary program – focused for this special evening on Hannah Arendt’s public reflections and Reden! – continues to influence renowned thinkers to this day. The ruthless ideologue and the considered analyst – a contrast that is still thought-provoking in other contexts today.
Martin Schwanda lends his voice to the henchman, Arendt is accompanied by performer and festival director Anna Luca Krassnigg embodied. On the philosophical evaluation and the questions of critical attitudes and today’s dangers, philosophy star Konrad Paul Liessmann offers his analysis.
Acting: Martin Schwanda, Anna Luca Krassnigg
Discussion guest: Konrad Paul Liessmann
Set design and moderation: Jérôme Junod
Costume: Antoaneta Stereva Di Brolio
Make-up: Henriette Zwölfer
A production by Wortwiege, funded by the state of Lower Austria and the city of Wiener Neustadt.
