3165 – The Executioner

Süddeutsche Zeitung:
"Setzwein's play relentlessly and insistently explores the eternal question of who is using whom."

Mittelbayerische Zeitung:
"Grandiose: Christian Hofmann - The staging ... is able to evoke a tremendous amount of anxiety"

Vohblog.de:
"A world premiere - which has it all. Anyone who has not seen this "Executioner" is deprived of the opportunity to take a look into the mind of an executor ... Respect."

Amberger Zeitung:
"Fantastic and empathetic life confession"

Fränkische Nachrichten:
"Great acting performances"

Der neue Tag:
"Brilliantly authentic"

Chamer Zeitung:
"Born in Munich and living in Waldmünchen since 1991, the writer Bernhard Setzwein has long since moved into the first rank of serious German authors with his books, magazine publications, essays, radio programmes and plays. In many of his works, he illuminates events of contemporary history from the perspective of those involved, the so-called "little people", making them comprehensible and generally understandable through real people or fictitious fates. His latest theatre piece for the time being, the chamber play "3165 - Monologue of an Executioner", deals with such a real, historically documented person from Bavaria's recent history: it is about Johann Reichhart. Bavaria's last executioner...

Passauer Neue Presse, Bea Lederer:
"The names just burst over him. 3165 in number. And 3165 faces, each of which haunts him, the gaunt, pale Hans. Those around him despise the man in the black frock coat and top hat. And yet he is only fulfilling his duty - the duty of the executioner. Nowhere could Bernhard Setzwein's play "3165 - Monologue of an Executioner" have been performed better by the ensemble of the Leuchtenberg Castle Festival than in the vaults of the Scharfrichterhaus, where the ensemble was invited by the 'Passauer Pegasus' on Tuesday evening (...)"

Der neue Tag, Peter Klewitz:
"A mechanical executioner's tool dominates the cold attic above Regensburg's judiciary. The chairs arranged in a semicircle around it almost convey something like a doctor's request: "Next, please..." From the endearingly nostalgic steam radio right next to it, the voices of the hangman's girlfriend Erika and her partner Hans Reichhart emerge after an atmospheric croak. The dialogue-like "monologue of an executioner" begins. (...)"

The new day:
"With "3165 - Monologue of an Executioner", the Stadtbühne Vohenstrauß presented a remarkable performance in the Modern Theatre. Under the demanding direction of Matthias Winter, the play by Bernhard Setzwein was transformed into an impressive drama. No less impressive were the performances of Christian Hofmann and Waltraud Janner-Stahl, who brought the post-war period to life in a depressing way. A two-person drama that was sensitively and profoundly realised and left the audience breathless at times. (...)"

Mittelbayerische Zeitung, Theo Kurtz:
"Last December, the play "3165 - Monologue of an Executioner" had its world premiere in Weiden to standing ovations. Following guest performances in Tirschenreuth and Passau, the "Executioner" will bring down the guillotine at the Turmtheater in Regensburg from 15 to 18 March. The stage play, written by the Waldmünchen author Bernhard Setzwein, is now also available in a radio play version. On 6 March, the "Silberling", published by Lohrbär-Verlag, will be presented at the Regensburg District Court. (...)"

Regensburger Wochenblatt:
"On his account go 3165 "life deprivations". The last executioner in Bavaria, Johann Reichhardt, transported so many convicted moral criminals, murderers, but also people like Hans and Sophie Scholl and, after the war, Nazi celebrities from life to death. With his play "3165 - Monologue of an Executioner", the Upper Palatinate author Bernhard Setzwein has brought the executioner, who was born near Wörth an der Donau in 1893 and died alone in 1972, into the public eye..."