Top dogs

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Book cover of Top Dogs

Top Dogs (world premiere: Theater am Neumarkt Zurich , May 1996) is a play by Urs Widmer . The accompanying book Top Dogs is a secret indie bestseller, and has been consistently at the top of the top 25 since the start of the Independent bestseller list (fiction) of the Börsenblatt in April 2018.

content

Urs Widmer's drama Top Dogs , which was published in 1997 by the authors' publishing house and has received several awards, deals with dismissed top managers who have fallen victim to complete alienation from their work, their private life and themselves and now with the help of New Challenge Company are trying to get their lives under control and get a new job as quickly as possible.

Characters

The characters are usually named after the actors in the various performances. Alternatively, the names of the actors from the 1996 premiere in Zurich are used:

  • Julika Jenkins (was project manager)
  • Susanne Wrage (formerly a financial analyst at Chase Manhattan Bank)
  • Dodó Deér (once active in the catering of the Swissair airline)
  • Urs Bihler
  • Hanspeter Müller (project manager at a turbine company)
  • E. Heinrich Krause
  • Michael Neuenschwander (was responsible for the leisure culture of a company)
  • Gilles Tschudi (was active on the stock exchange)

All persons suffer from their dismissal and can hardly understand that they are now the dismissed themselves. You must now experience for yourself what you previously did to many workers by firing them. The drama shows the complete alienation of the "Top Dogs" from their job, their private life and themselves. None of the dismissed managers manage to find a "normal" life after being fired (except for Julika Jenkins; she gets a job after being fired at Nestlé in South Korea, p. 84, lines 46–57). They are all trapped in the delusion of pursuing their old goals: power, influence, prestige and money. Family happiness or feelings of love are no longer possible for the characters because they are too alienated from these values ​​and feelings. The "Top Dogs" are trapped in their own system, which can also be seen from the fact that they get involved in all "games" in the outplacement center , although their meaning seems questionable in many cases.

particularities

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  • Not a closed form
  • No continuous storyline
  • The occupation of the role of the psychologist changes. It is perceived by different people - all actually clients - which leads to the blurring of the line between client and psychologist.
  • Other literary works are instrumentalized: u. a. the apocalypse from the Revelation of John and various fairy tales.
  • The language of the drama is adapted to the location (dialect).
  • No psychological figures of reality, but blanket artificial stereotypes
  • The lack of naming of the figures by the author shows their interchangeability.
  • The shape of the piece is similar to that of epic theater .
  • can be interpreted as a modern tragedy .

Structure and summary

1st Summit Conference , Wrage / Deér

Mr Deér, who worked at Swissair , is new to the outplacement center. The other clients are introduced to him. However, he does not understand that he has recently been unemployed like her, but is in the middle of a phase of denial . Through Ms. Wrage's persistent efforts to explain his situation and the purpose of the outplacement center to him, he finally grasps his situation.

2. Today the Churchills are in demand again , Bihler / Tschudi

In this section, two clients re-enact a dismissal, with Bihler playing the boss and Tschudi the one to be dismissed. In this chapter Bihler speaks the concise sentence that describes the business world: “Business, this is war. Blood and tears. That's how it is."

3. The battle of words , all persons

Here all clients throw terms - mostly anglicisms - from business and management at each other without any connection .

4th camp

Jenkins takes the position of psychologist and clients take turns talking about how they handled their discharge.

4.1 The first case , Jenkins / Müller

Müller was a project manager at a company called "Interstorm". He is called to the boss in Ouchy , but is already informed in the elevator by another employee that he should be fired. Then he handles the termination with the boss "professionally" and apparently cool.

4.2 The second case , Wrage

Wrage was a financial analyst at Chase Manhattan Bank. Quite surprisingly, she was given notice in writing. She immediately booked a vacation to the Caribbean.

4.3 The third case , Neuenschwander

Neuenschwander was responsible for the leisure activities of the management in a large corporation. He gave tennis lessons to many managers and found them to be increasingly aggressive. When the managers suddenly had to work late into the night, his position became redundant and he was fired. He had bought a Porsche that day and his wife left him with his old car (Golf GTI).

4.4 The fourth case , Tschudi

Tschudi worked for Brubble & Lee Ltd. active on the stock exchange. After the leadership increasingly carried out illegal actions, Tschudi was used as a scapegoat. When he refused, the three-person leadership and his successor came from Hong Kong and was fired.

4.5 You have been dismissed, Krause! , Krause / Jenkins / Bihler

(Jenkins leads the discussion)
Krause speaks about the fact that it is actually not a shame to be released. After all, millions of people feel that way. Nevertheless, it takes him a lot personally; he keeps fighting back tears. He has developed many psychosomatic problems since his release .
When asked how he would have pronounced his resignation in the position of his boss, a role-play is set up. At first he can't get out of his skin even in the role of the boss and takes on a tearful tone, but then suddenly he takes a stand and cleans "Heinrich Krause" down properly.

4.6 Maneuver Critique , All Previous

The statements by Krause are discussed.
Some are bothered by the excessive emotionality that Krause showed in the role play, others find it understandable. The sense of the outplacement center and the placement opportunities, especially for the older participants, are questioned by some and discussed by the group.

4.7 The fourth case (2)

After Tschudi was released and he had to hand over his car as a result, he rented the same car and left the house punctually in the following weeks, as he did every day, in order to conceal the release from his wife. One day he learns that his wife and children have long since been informed of his release by a neighbor. He goes nuts and hits his wife. However, neither of them talk about this incident, but rather behave “as usual” the next morning.

4.8 The second case (2)

Wrage says that contrary to her previous description, the vacation in the Caribbean was anything but nice. She hasn't even left her room in three weeks. She was one of the first to make it very clear that a discharge is an extremely humbling experience.

4.9 The third case (2)

Neuenschwander says that he only ever runs the Porsche in the garage. Otherwise he won't drive the car.

4.10 The first case (2)

Müller says that his dismissal also had far more significant effects than he had previously described. His wife suffered a nervous breakdown after learning of his release, received psychiatric treatment and is now on medication. Since then she's been fine again.

5. gait exercises (1)

Tschudi explains to Deér how to act as a manager. It is mainly about posture and gait.

6. Stupid cow

Müller is the psychologist and lets Jenkins and Neuenschwander do a role play. In this role play, Jenkins portrays Neuenschwanders wife. The morning situation in the kitchen is re-enacted in reversed roles in order to shed light on the couple's conflicts.

7. gait exercises (2)

This time Deér is the teacher and teaches Tschudi how to behave correctly, passing on what Tschudi has explained to him in a completely exaggerated manner.

8. Dreams

All clients tell one after the other what they dream and what they would like to do one day. Almost everyone would like more humanity in the world, entangling themselves in contradictions and upon closer inspection and interpretation it turns out that these are all just figments of theirs.

8.1 Human relationships , Krause

Krause would like to have more time for human relationships and do something other than work. He discovered the internet as a carefree zone to which he could withdraw.

8.2 The gloss of the high number , Tschudi

Tschudi lists a whole series of high numbers to make it clear which “values” count in business and management. He apparently longs to "produce" such good numbers again.

8.3 Animal keeper , Deér

Deér would sometimes like to retire from management and work as a zookeeper, which would give him more social contact (e.g. with the animals).

8.4 Woman's weapons , Wrage

Wrage speaks with a mixture of fighting spirit and bitterness that she will "come back". As in the past, she wants to use the “woman's weapons” and makes it clear that this is not just sex appeal, but above all intellect.

8.5 Glass office , Jenkins

Jenkins dreams of a glamorous career in which there is a "glass office" with numerous companies belonging to her. In addition to these fantasies, she keeps talking about her mother, who has persuaded her all her life that nothing will come of her. Especially at the end it becomes clear that she wants success above all so that she can finally get her mother's approval.

8.6 Honeymoon Suite , Bihler

Bihler would like to really pamper his wife with the most luxurious things in the world to thank her for her loyalty through all the years of neglect. In his descriptions it becomes clear that his idea of ​​"pampering" is based more on clichés and his idea of ​​luxury than on the real needs of his wife.

8.7 Mountain hike , Müller

Müller would like to go on a mountain hike with his boss in order to plunge him into the depths - finally at the top - and then with relish watch as it crashes on a glacier.

8.8 Harmonica , Neuenschwander

Neuenschwander plays parts from Mozart's Little Night Music on his harmonica .

This peacefulness stands in stark contrast to Müller's brutal imagination.

9. Gait exercises (3) , Tschudi / Deér

Now Tschudi is the teacher again, who teaches Deér to appear again, but this time exaggerating it himself so much that Deér's walk looks completely unnatural in the end.

10. The fairy tales

A very similar situation to the dream, except that not all clients have their say. The fairy tales are aimed at the viewer, which can be seen from the fact that the people do not learn anything from these fairy tales or do not even begin to notice the teaching.

10.1 Hans in luck , Neuenschwander

The story of Hans im Glück is told. Neuenschwander cannot understand how you can lose everything and still be happy.

10.2 The fairy tale of the fathers and sons , Müller

It is said that every father's sons go out to learn what the father himself once learned. The point is that the sons do not learn from their father what they can do just as well, but rather look for a foreign teacher.

10.3 The fisherman and his wife , Krause

It is reported of a fisherman who catches a fish and throws it back into the water because the fish tells him that he is a prince. The fisherman's wife sends the fisherman back to the fish and makes demands that are also met. (At first just a real house, in the end she wants to be God.) In the end, this greed is punished by getting back what it had in the beginning.

10.4 The utopia of man , Bihler

It is said that a time will come when it will be full of harmony and peace. In the end, however, it is said: "This is how it will be, if not in this millennium then in the next". So there is only hope for this time.

11. Parade field

Japanese combat exercises are done in groups.

11.1 The Great Lament

Similar to the battle of words, all those present are shouting terms again, but more intensely than the first time.

12. Farewell , all

Ms. Wrage explains that Jenkins has found a new job and will be leaving the group. She is then wished luck and she says goodbye to everyone present.

Emergence

The play emerged from interviews conducted by Urs Widmer with dismissed top managers, whereby their problems with the dismissal were adopted as the basis of the character conflicts of the individual "top dogs". Widmer also received help from two outplacement companies.

Urs Widmer explained the creation of the piece as “a kind of commission”. At the beginning of 1996, Volker Hesse , then co-director of the Theater am Neumarkt in Zurich , discussed the dismissal of high-income managers. “The fact that entire management levels were rationalized away still had news value at the time. We researched in so-called outplacement offices like two ethnologists . "The research, the writing of the play and the rehearsals took place at the same time:" All in all, a hot time. We were finished in three months. "

scene of action

The outplacement center is the central place of action. This is a facility for discharged executives, the Top Dogs , which is operated by the NCC ( New Challenge Company ). It helps clients, dismissed top managers, to cope with the unemployment situation and to find a new job. Their familiar surroundings are simulated, so the outplacement center is kept in an office style. (P. 13, lines 6–11, Ms. Wrage: "We are providing our clients with an infrastructure similar to what they are used to from their previous employers. Computer, fax, telephone, secretariat for all paperwork [. ..], Coffee machine [...].")

rating

The topic ... is called: structural unemployment; it is the dilemma of western industrial and affluent society. But unlike usual, the topic is tamed entirely from the head. It's not about underdogs , but about "top dogs". In other words, about top managers who were fired in the course of global restructuring and who have now come together in a Zurich outplacement office for the purpose of cushioning shock, processing disappointments and later professional reintegration. The change of perspective is important. What is presented is a royal drama of the economy, not a small people play. That pushes the game out of the gray areas of the usual social reporting , gives it surprising insights - and joke: a little malicious glee , of course, is also part of it ... Laughing, well entertained, but again and again with trepidation we understand: there is something fishy, ​​not just in the state of Helvetia ; a fairly wolfish capitalism is making its way around the world, poorly camouflaged in its inhumanity behind the phraseological facades of dynamic neoliberalism ; if the human being is not needed as a consumer, it becomes increasingly superfluous; managers not only have to fire their subordinates, but ultimately also themselves. That is the grotesque logic of economics. Globalization is eating its children.
- From: Gerhard Jörder , award speech on “Top Dogs” at the Berlin Theatertreffen 1997

Primary literature

Secondary literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The best-selling titles from independent publishers in February 2018 , boersenblatt.net, accessed September 20, 2018
  2. ↑ Independent bestseller list (fiction) , boersenblatt.net aktuell, accessed September 20, 2018
  3. ↑ Barry Murnane: Economy as Tragedy . In: Daniel Fulda, Thorsten Valk: The tragedy of modernity . De Gruyter, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-11-023290-5 , pp. 295-318.
  4. ↑ Urs Widmer workshop talk ( memento of the original dated February 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.torsolit.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the literary magazine Torso
  5. ↑ therein: Simon Grand: The market on Neumarkt. The theater from an economic point of view
  6. ↑ for the upper school level
  7. ↑ largely the same as Schachenmann, but without the numerous there. Fig - A few more pages than the 2010 edition of Bange