Omar and Omar
Omar und Omar is a radio play by Günter Eich , which was broadcast on August 25, 1957 - initially entitled "Der Ring des Kalifen" - by NDR under the direction of Hans Rosenhauer .
content
Omar, the 30-year-old caliph of Baghdad , is healthy, has 365 wives and also slaves, mamluks , a bulging treasury and all sorts of other possessions. But he sleeps badly and dreams hard. In the dream the ruler carries sacks of pepper, date baskets and a number of heavy loads under the overseer's short whip for three dirhems per night. The Council of Thrones is waiting with sixteen legal cases. The caliph's wise judgment is required. He is fed up with government and especially his 365 wives.
The 30-year-old porter Omar from the Chinese port city of Hanad has nothing - except for his health, his wife Schamsa and their six children, Talib, Nusra, Sabur, Mirdas, Hind and Chatun. Omar from China has a great night's sleep. Because he speaks talented justice in the dream as the Caliph of Baghdad and tells the children about it the next day, the porter is called "Omar the Caliph" in Hanad.
The real caliph has already earned a hundred eight dinars by carrying the burden at night when the Council of Thrones and the people revolt. Before the caliph leaves, he promises his vizier a successor. The vizier could recognize the newcomer by the caliph ring on his finger. While the caliph abandons both the throne and the people and embarks for China, the porter in Hanad falls while working from the slippery running board into the open belly of a freighter and is passed out for three days. When Omar and Omar meet on the way, they both swap rings at the Caliph's suggestion. In Baghdad, the porter ascends the orphaned throne and, after the first verdict, receives the unanimous approval of the assembled council. A new Solomon has entered Baghdad. In Hanad, Shamsa wants to throw out the strange man who knocked on the door, but her children change his mind. The caliph, who has introduced himself to the port of Hanad as an all-round capable porter and who puts the few self-earned dinars on the table, is finally allowed to take his father's vacant seat. The former ruler is happy. Finally he only has one wife.
Quote
The mother Shamsa to her six unruly children: "Give me a pot that I can throw at you!"
shape
In the thirteen chapters, the setting alternates between Baghdad and Hanad. Exception: In the seventh chapter, the caliph and the porter meet in a port between the above-mentioned locations. This arises, because from the eighth chapter both swap their ancestral whereabouts.
Productions
- August 25, 1957, NDR. Director: Hans Rosenhauer, music: Siegfried Franz . Walter Richter spoke to the caliph, Richard Münch the vizier, Hanns Lothar the porter and Edda Seippel the shamsa.
- June 14, 1959, ORF . Director: Herbert Spalke .
- February 4, 1962, SDR . Director: Otto Kurth .
reception
- Schwitzke does not stop at the table of contents. The Caliph of Baghdad, a capable porter with new ideas to make work easier, initiated the installation of the Hanad Dockers Union.
- The role reversal is not new to Günter Eich (see for example " Pewter Scream "). An unjust God is accused by the porter's children.
literature
Used edition
- Günter Eich: Omar and Omar (1957) . S. 387-417 in: Karl Karst (Ed.): Günter Eich. The radio plays 2. in: Collected works in four volumes. Revised edition. Volume III . Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1991, without ISBN
Secondary literature
- Heinz Schwitzke (Ed.): Reclam's radio play guide. With the collaboration of Franz Hiesel , Werner Klippert , Jürgen Tomm. Reclam, Stuttgart 1969, without ISBN, 671 pages
- Sabine Alber: The place in free fall. Günter Eich's moles in the context of the entire work. Dissertation. Technische Universität Berlin 1992. Verlag Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1992 (European university publications. Series I, German language and literature, vol. 1329), ISBN 3-631-45070-2
- Hans-Ulrich Wagner: Günter Eich and the radio. Essay and documentation. Verlag für Berlin-Brandenburg, Potsdam 1999, ISBN 3-932981-46-4 (publications of the German Broadcasting Archive ; Vol. 27)