Die kunst des deals

A theatre company is creating a performance based on the book Trump: The Art of the Deal, written by Donald J. Trump and Tony Schwartz.

The book was originally published on 1 November 1987 and topped the New York Times bestseller list for months. Trump himself calls it his second favourite book, after the Bible.


That same year also saw the debut of the TV series The Bold and the Beautiful, the hit Walk Like an Egyptian by The Bangles, and almost exactly twenty-four months later the Iron Curtain would fall.

Who at the time could have predicted that the methods described in this book would one day come to dominate global politics?

A dark, uncomfortable comedy with music and dance, personal defeats, major political upheavals, the Antichrist, and the final bankruptcy of modesty.

By and with

  • Puk Brouwers
  • Stacyian Jackson
  • Veronika Nickl
  • Abenaa Prempeh
  • Mona Vojacek Koper
  • Lukas von der Lühe

Music

  • Moritz Bossmann
  • Kristina Koropetzki

Director

  • Walter Bart

Dramaturgy

  • Lucien Strauch

Director's assistance

  • Gianluca Elbert

Light en scenography

  • Maarten van Otterdijk

Costume design

  • Bettina Kirmair

Coproducer

  • Schauspielhaus Bochum

Upcoming dates

  • May 2026

    10

    19:00

    Schauspielhaus
    Bochum

  • May 2026

    16

    19:30

    Divadelní Flora
    Olomouc

  • May 2026

    29

    19:30

    Schauspielhaus
    Bochum

  • June 2026

    13

    19:30

    Schauspielhaus
    Bochum

Past dates

  • April 2026

    28

    Schauspielhaus
    Bochum

  • April 2026

    19

    Schauspielhaus
    Bochum

  • April 2026

    18

    Schauspielhaus
    Bochum

The art of the deal is a kind of therapy session for all of us – a relaxed way of confronting fears and the perceived loss of control with the tools of art. A captivating evening with many layers and hidden depths!”
Deutschlandfunk / Kultur heute

“A genuinely charming intertwining of illusion and reality.”
Deutschlandfunk Kultur

“Walter Bart and his ensemble play with what is real and what could very well be. In the exaggerations, in the deliberate excess, the mechanisms of art and theatre are revealed on the one hand, but also those of a society and a politics that elevate the art of the deal to their sole principle. In this sense, Bart and the ensemble achieve an almost grandiose coup. They not only show how Trump and all those who follow him and his ideas have managed to shape the world in their image. At the same time, they transform Trump’s strategies into an artistic weapon and turn them against him.”
nachtkritik.de

“The mix of self-irony, resilience, and silliness is delightful.”
Die Welt

The art of the deal is a wondrous theatre evening that takes so many twists and turns that it is a great joy to watch. Towards the end – this much may be revealed – the show turns into a dazzling musical, in which the two musicians (Kristina Koropecki and Moritz Bossmann) also rise to great form. What a wildly exuberant spectacle! Standing ovations.”
Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung

“A musical revue that, despite its serious subject matter, is very, very funny – completely over the top and liberatingly comic. Go and see it!”
kultur.nrw

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