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by Clara Glynn The extraordinary story of the mistake that caused one of the most significant turning points of the 20th century. In November 1989 the repressive tyranny of the GDR ended and with it the Cold War, bringing in 33 years of peace - which only recently ended. At a routine press conference on November 9, 1989, an East German spokesperson, Günter Schabowski, was handed an announcement about relaxed travel regulations for the people of East Germany. He mistakenly announced that the checkpoints in the Berlin Wall — which up until then were guarded by soldiers with orders to shoot anyone trying to cross — were now open. They weren’t, but that announcement was all East Berliners needed to storm the Wall and demand they be allowed to cross into West Berlin. After that, the Wall became obsolete, and soon fell. This is a story of misguided good men doing their best, evil men doing their worst and an incompetent bureaucrat who accidentally changes the world. Erich Honecker ..... Gary Lewis Erich Mielke ..... Crawford Logan Egon Krenz ..... Adam McNamara Gerhard Lauter ..... Robin Laing Erika Lauter ..... Lisa Livingstone Günter Schabowski/Mikhail Gorbachev ..... Michael Nardone Monika Folke ..... Elysia Welch Vladimir Putin ..... Michael Guest Sound design by Fraser Jackson Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane