One of my favourite plays, warning of the danger of simply following orders. ( )

this story of a German ex-convict just before WWI who disguised himself as an Army officer and briefly seized control of the townhall of Kopenick is based on reality, but amazing still. I first saw it done in a wonderful production by an unofficial company at Canada's Stratford, a version which contained episodes i later learned were not in the original but which vividly rcall (German prisoners singing
a hymn while an officer whacks them with a stick; the hero dancing off with a dead woman at the end).
Later in Germany I gopt the chance to visit the real town hall where it happened, and there is a photo me me grinning over the safe the "captyain" looted. Detached from these memories, the actual play is rather wistful and perhaps only deserves a 3 or 4, but it has had quite an impact on Kopenick, which has a festival to recall the episode. ( )