David Hasselhoff brought down the Berlin wall. This is according to the musings of Franzi, the protagonists of the one person show Kapitalism is Your Friend. 

An intriguing show, it follows the recounting of Franzi, a woman who has recently woken from an extended coma realising that the world has comprehensively passed her by. Being a 15 year old in 1985, she was preoccupied with all the normal things a teenager would be obsessed with in The German Democratic Republic; being a member of the Youth League, dancing and David Hasselhoff. After an injury at a concert, she wakes to find out her country no longer exists.

Although there are some wonderful 80’s references, a very healthy amount of love for David Hasselhoff and, notably, a concerning use of bananas, Franzi is troubled by the very real differences in living in soviet East Germany in the 1980s to capitalist 21’st century Germany in a post covid society. Whilst Franzi indicates her joy for the new capitalist society, it is clear the environment she now finds herself in, whilst certainly freer, it is significantly more complicated. The reliable structures of society are gone, women are less successful than men and although she has new technology to use, including her access to a mobile phone, which she nicknames “Stasi” after the East German secret police, she is left feeling hollow and despondent. Especially as she sees the world with the mind of a teenager but the body of an adult. 

Conceived and performed by April Albert, the show is excellent. Displaying a vivid and clear collapse in her confidence and connection to the world around her, Albert is believable in the emotional journey she is trapped in. Whilst Albert emphasises Franzi’s clearly sad state of affairs, she is also quite hilarious, wholly committed to the high energy and hopeful teen Franzi is. Albert should be commended for her outstanding performance.