Schauspielhaus Graz

“Discount”: The absurd abysses of the rich

Oliver Chomik, Marlene Hauser and Florian Marius Kager in "Discount"(Bild: Lex Karelly)

Abysmal and hilarious: Swiss director Basil Zecchinel stages Nora Abdel-Maksoud's comedy "Rabatt" on the Schaubühne at the Schauspielhaus Graz with a top ensemble and Marlene Hauser in the leading role.

Money or morals? Journalist Dena Grigorova doesn't have to think twice. She cashes in on shitstorms and columns about "left-wing fascism". But when a food delivery man collapses and dies in her old building, she meets a bizarre mafiosi duo who run a discount store funeral. So far, so absurd: with "Discount", Munich author Nora Abdel-Maksoud has written a slapstick comedy about classism that pushes the pain threshold.

The ensemble not only speaks the most beautiful Denglish, as the text says, but also Styrian. The actors dance, spit on the anonymous mass grave of those who can't even afford a gravestone, aim Glocks at each other: yes, the abysses are deep, and the joke allows you to look straight into them. At the most rudimentarily moralizing, the play always breaks up the great monologues at the right moment.

Some wanted to self-actualize themselves, I wanted money.

Dena Grigorova in „Rabatt“

Director Basil Zecchinel, who is staging the play in Graz for the second time, emphasizes the exaggerated superficiality of the characters and brings them to the Styrian capital. The characters are as hollow as Lea Burkhalter's stage, which is modeled on a sitcom set.

Otiti Engelhardt and Marlene Hauser(Bild: Lex Karelly)

The hair has superpowers
The wigs have superpowers: with his black mullet on his head, Oliver Chomik is transformed into a wickedly funny character from an 80s action flick between Arnie Schwarzenegger and John Travolta in "Pulp Fiction" - a spectacle. His comic-like mafiosi twin is perfectly cast with Rudi Widerhofer.

The ensemble of "Rabatt"(Bild: Lex Karelly)

In a red wig, Marlene Hauser is a self-confident beast who is nothing but a heap of misery without her hair - in this bitter moment, her lip quivers and her eyes water. Otiti Engelhardt reliably delivers her punch lines as the assistant Luigi. And Florian Marius Kager as the ghost of the Lieferando driver glitters across the stage as the social conscience. You shouldn't miss it!