The police embodies the monopoly on legitimate use of force like no other institution, and it is thus the only one authorised to employ physical coercion. Hence, the police is allowed to interfere with citizens’ constitutionally protected basic rights to a significant extent. It is not surprising, therefore, that police violence is a frequently controversial area, fed by left-wing stereotypes among others. In the course of the recent clearance of the village of Lützerath, the topic once more became the subject of massive debates. And yet, large portions of the population have great trust in police officers. This research-based project by werkgruppe2 will address this ambivalence of perception.
The collective werkgruppe2 consists of director Julia Roesler, dramaturg Silke Merzhäuser, musician and composer Insa Rudolph and videographer Isabel Robson. With a deliberately mono-perspective approach, they address complex issues of society to portray the social reality of people who belong to minorities, are marginalised or confronted with prejudice in any other way. Following a period of in-depth research, werkgruppe2 assemble a text from documentary and fictional elements and develop a film and theatre piece featuring professional actors.