About the work
DRUCK! (Pressure!) is the first play by the Viennese writer Arad Dabiri. It was written in 2023 in the drama lab of Wiener Wortstaetten, published the same year in their series Edition Goldstück, and received the authors’ prize of the Heidelberger Stückemarkt in 2024. Ayşe Güvendiren directed the world premiere at the Nationaltheater Mannheim on 23 January 2025.
Plot
Vienna, the present: Hassan’s brother is in prison after a drug deal, awaiting his sentence, while Hassan’s family of Iranian descent expects him to finish his degree. Hassan and his friends Omar, Murat and Freddie see the arrest as racist policing; his sister Shirin sees it as the result of refusing to integrate. The four young men want to turn their anger into political protest and organise a demonstration, which escalates when right-wing extremists appear. Dabiri tells the story in dialogues, monologues and rhythmic, rap-like verse.
Cultural significance
The Heidelberg jury, which split its 2024 prize between DRUCK! and a text by the collective Frankfurter Hauptschule, praised the precision with which the play addresses racism and classism. In the critics’ poll of Theater heute, Dabiri was named young playwright of the year in 2025, and in 2026 the play was invited to the Mülheimer Theatertage. Within a year further productions followed in Germany, as well as one in English in Washington.