Once upon a time, there was a play called The Dragon, which deals with the terror of dictatorship, embodied by a fearsome dragon. It was performed in 1965 in East Berlin at the prestigious Deutsches Theater, the first state theater of the GDR. Why was this anti-dictatorship play allowed to be performed here? Why was it not immediately banned by the state that could see itself criticized in it? What unfolded behind the Iron Curtain appears as a riddle and as an unsettling interplay between state actors and those of the theater. The present political performance history reconstructs the political backgrounds that were significant for the creation and existence of this play. The production became the most famous theater production of the GDR and remained on stage for sixteen years. Its story reflects the relationship of the GDR to one another.