Carl Hirschmann’s Home Theatre

Carl Hirschmann’s name is normally banded about in the gossip and crime columns, but this time he managed to get into the cultural pages. A press conference hosted by him and the Theater Neumarkt in Zurich was aimed at promoting a new play to be put up by the theatre.

Carl Hirschmann party boy

A press conference hosted by Carl Hirschmann guarantees the attendance of a bevy of journalists mainly from the gossip department. They were sorely disappointed this time, as there wasn’t a shred of scandal about the announcement to be made.

Carl Hirschmann opened the press conference with a short statement, and then left immediately sparking an exodus of gossips. Theater Neumarkt’s co-director Barbara Weber quipped ‘and now they’re all leaving’ to the laughter of the remaining real journalists.

The opening statement had covered the main fact that the former Club Saint Germain in Zurich would be hosting the Theater Neumarkt for several months up to the end of this year. Carl Hirschmann had closed his VIP night club venue following the death of his father end of last year while his rent contract will keep on running to 2014.

Now the club will host the play A.N.D.Y., a production put up by Theater Neumarkt based on Andy Warhol’s 1975 book Andy Warhol’s Philosophy: From A To B & Back Again. As Andy Warhol and his set were regulars at one of history’s most decadent disco venues called Club 54 in New York, putting the play into the rooms of the equally decadent Club Saint Germain gives it a certain authenticity.

Also in the Club Saint Germain, Theater Neumarkt will put up the play Vestire Gli Nudi (Clothing The Naked) by Luigi Pirandello. The play tells the story of love, treason, attempted suicide and the involvement of the gossip press in it all. The stories of the protagonists and the press crisscross and contradict each other exposing them all as liars to the point where the real story is never told. In view of Carl Hirschmann’s past, the play gets some additional validation from the venue as well.

Theater Neumarkt’s co-director Rafael Sanchez said that the theatre had been looking for a suitable venue for several months prior to contacting Carl Hirschmann when he announced to close down Club Saint Germain. He had been intrigued by the idea and when the matter of money was broached, he declared to Sanchez that they would not be able to afford the rent of the first class venue at Zurich's prime address at Bahnhofstrasse 66. Theater Neumarkt will receive the use of the rooms rent free.

While Carl Hirschmann had been running Club Saint Germain, he had lived in the Grand Hotel Dolder in Zurich; he had been evicted from there after his arrest, but is now back in residence. During that time, the club was more his home than the hotel, giving home theatre a completely new meaning.

Further reading
When a Sassy Headline Becomes an Embarrassment
Poor Rich Boy: Carl Hirschmann
Zurich is More Than Banks