upon the emotional dynamics and powerful poetry that are the hallmark of great theatre". The Guardian's Mark Fisher gave a 2006 performance three out of five stars, praising the performances but arguing, "By showing not only the explosions but also the mundane business of clearing up, the play has a fragmented rhythm". Gardner gave a positive review to a 2007 performance, arguing that Kroetz is able to make mundane events "hypnotic"; she claimed that the majority of the play is "like watching an unstable building sway and fall in agonising slow motion." Tom Fool was described as "superb" in The Herald. 1980s and beyond According to Dominic Dromgoole, Kroetz was for some "the guiding light of the 1980s. For others, he was the most mind-bogglingly boring playwright history had ever thrown up." Arthur Holmberg of The New York Times wrote in 1984 that "literary critics rank him as one of the most important of Europe's young playwrights." The surrealistic Neither Fish Nor Flesh (1981) was controversial, with half the audience at its Munich premiere leaving by the end of the third act. A reviewer for Der Spiegel lauded Kroetz as accurately depicting the social conditions and languages of the people portrayed. Hellmuth Karasek praised Bauern sterben (1985) in the same magazine. Discussing the same play, McGowan criticized the city-country dichotomy in which the former is depicted as soulless and the latter is glorified, though he dubbed the play "powerfully and self-consciously theatrical", saying it contains "a series of elemental, powerful images." In 1998, Angelica Fenner noted that the negative characterizations of female protagonists who choose abortion had garnered him some praise from conservative factions. Der Drang (The Urge, 1994), an extended version of Lieber Fritz (Dear Fritz, 1971), drew controversy for its sexual content. Ich bin das Volk (I Am the People, 1994) garnered mixed responses. Selected plays Wildwechsel (Game Crossing), premiered in 1971 Theater Dortmund Heimarbeit (Homeworker or Home-work), premiered 1971 Münchner Kammerspiele Michis Blut (Michi's Blood) A Requiem in Bavarian, premiered in 1971 pro T München Hartnäckig (Persistent), premiered in 1971 Münchner Kammerspiele Dolomitenstadt Lienz (Lienz – Gateway to the Dolomites) farce with song (music: Peter Zwetkoff), premiered in 1972 Schauspielhaus Bochum Männersache (Men's Business), premiered in 1972 Landestheater Darmstadt Stallerhof (Farmyard), premiered in 1972 Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg Globales Interesse (Global Interest), premiered in 1972 Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel Oberösterreich (Upper Austria), premiered in 1972 Städtische Bühnen Heidelberg Lieber Fritz