The Firebugs

October 12 – October 28, 2012

Written by Max Frisch

Directed by Diane Malone

The Firebugs is a dark comedy by Swiss playwright Max Frisch. Gottlieb Biedermann, a cautious German businessman, discovers that the two men who have entered his home disguised as salesmen are the arsonists who have already burned down much of the town. He and his wife, concerned only with saving themselves and their home, lodge them, feed them a sumptuous dinner, and provide them with all the matches they can possibly use — all of which serves only to postpone the inevitable holocaust.

Study Guide

Press

"The actors nail the pieces dark comedy. Some of the laughs come from Cindy Rodriguez’s droll turn as Anna, the Biedermann’s plainly long-suffering maid, and from Christie Beckham as Biedermann’s increasingly uncomfortable wife. Barca, sporting mutton chops and neck tattoos, deftly handles the piece’s tone, giving his character an aura that is both friendly and dangerous."

- Deborah Martin, San Antonio Express-News

"In her Inventive, stylized staging, director Diane Malone acknowledges the role that The Firebugs played in developing the Theatre of the Absurd. Biedermann, played by Tyler Keyes with a pencil-thin mustache and a Dudley Do-Right stentorian voice, reads a newspaper whose pages are clearly blank. The food that is served is air-cuisine, and one of many delights is watching Dru Marcus’ Josef Schmitz, a brassy tattooed wrestler who worked for the circus until it burned down, chop away at imaginary roast duck. Christie Beckham plays Biedermann’s wife Babette as a high-heeled Betty Boop."

- Steven G. Kellman, San Antonio Current