In was in the late 1960’s that Baader Meinhof Gang in Germany found its roots. Initially they were a student organisation dedicated to , amongst other things, stopping the Vietnam War and toppling oppressive regime of the Shah of Iran . Violence bloodshed and death resulted when the German Police and other Authorities pushed back against its extremist ideology and tactics.
In turn Baader Meinhof became increasingly more violent in time becoming labelled a terrorist organisation, ultimately hijacking a plane in 1977. During a 10 year period they dominated the West German political and news psyche by being at the centre of bombings , psychological warfare and murder.
Sound familiar?
This then is the long bow drawn by Van Badham to connect what was happening then to what is happening today in many western countries. There was a desire then toward simplicity of analysis where in fact there were a multiplicity of issues and layers of reality. Van Badham suggests that perhaps we might look at terrorism today in the same light .
That is a matter for you, for us, the audience to decide. To be fair there are some uncomfortable similarities between the political and legal approaches to this phenomena then and now. But there are also striking differences. Baader Meinhof was student politics gone astray. Isis/ Al Quada etc are militant wings of a nascent increasingly aggressive religion with a billion plus adherents.
It’s a violent thought provoking play that does not seek to draw any conclusions. There is a plausible transition of the Gang from zealous ultra left wing radicals to a violent almost paramilitary organisation, stopping at nothing to achieve its ends.
A raw energy and fury , so emblematic of Baader Meinhof permeate the performance. Their ruthless focus is captured by the members of a very large cast from SUDS (Sydney Uni Drama Society) as they morph from naive students to murderous political operatives.
It is almost a bare stage but with the menacing sounds of helicopters and reverberating sounds of gunshots and a very minimalist score ,it unleashes the surreality of demonic terrorism ,universal in its message, indiscriminate in its impact and unstoppable in its direction.
Playwright Van Badham is Vanessa Badham. This play won the Queensland Premiers Literary award in 2005. It is directed by Zach Beavon-Collin and is running at the PACT Theatre Erskineville until the 13th August. Performance time is 7 pm.