In the lions' den
In the lions' den is a drama by Felix Mitterer . It premiered on January 24, 1998 in the Vienna Volkstheater . It deals with the biography of the Austrian actor Leo Reuss , who is dismissed from the theater because of his Jewish affiliation , but who nevertheless returns to the theater as an " Aryan ".
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The play is based on the true and incredible life story of Leo Reuss , an Austrian actor and director . In the play Leo Reuss is called Arthur Kirsch.
The work is divided into seven pictures. The different images play shortly before, during and one year after the takeover of the Nazis . The scene of the play is the stage of a theater.
The first picture begins with the first scene of the third act of “The Merchant of Venice”. While Strassky as Selerio and Polacek as Solanio are having a conversation, Arthur Kirsch, who plays Shylock, a Jew, appears. Some men in the auditorium start laughing maliciously. When the whistling and the protest calls from around 20 spectators became such a noise that one could hardly understand anything, Kirsch turned to the audience and wanted to explain to them that both Jews and Christians are people. However, this explanation does not go down well and the curtain falls. Meisel, the director of the theater, tries to calm the audience down, but the boos only intensify. This situation forces Meisel to break off the performance. After the audience has left the theater, the actors Kirsch, Polacek, Strassky, Jakschitz and Olga stand on stage with the director Meisel. Meisel is desperate because Kirsch is supposedly ruining his theater and withdraws Kirsch, who is celebrating his 25th stage anniversary on this day, his role as Shylock .
In the second picture there is a rehearsal of the cast. Polacek plays Shylock and Kirsch Tubal, a Jewish friend of Shylock. When the National Socialists came to power, Arthur Kirsch's theater career was finally ended because he had no pure Aryan blood. Strassky and Polacek, convinced National Socialists, force Kirsch to scrub the floor of the stage with a brush. Everyone except Helene and Arthur leave the stage. Helene and Arthur divorce to protect Helene's career so that she can earn money for their two children.
The third picture takes place a year later. Arthur Kirsch now looks completely different, he now has a full beard and his hair is lighter colored. He is also dressed like a Tyrolean mountain farmer. He has undergone these changes so that nobody can expose him as a Jew and he can continue acting in the theater. In order to make his disguise appear more authentic, from now on he speaks in the Tyrolean dialect, claims that his name is Benedikt Höllrigl and acts like a staunch National Socialist. The director Meisel asks Kirsch to give a short monologue to prove his skills. Kirsch decides on a monologue from Schiller's drama " Wilhelm Tell " and performs it in an excellent way. The theater director Meisel hired him for the leading role in the premiere of "Wilhelm Tell".
At the beginning of the fourth picture, stage master Eder sees through Kirsch's disguise and recognizes him as that. Kirsch gives the reason why he takes this risk that he has to play from an inner drive. Kirsch is also recognized by Helene.
In revenge , Kirsch claims that the actor Polacek does not look like an Aryan. Meisel agrees and withdraws the role from Polacek because he fears that the public image of the theater could be damaged. The actor Strassky draws attention to Olga Sternberg, whose Aryan proof is not complete. Here, too, the director agrees to the termination, but does not want to dismiss her until after the premiere because he will not get a replacement anytime soon. Meisel also finally sees through Arthur Kirsch's disguise and asks him to leave, so as not to be targeted by the authorities when the fraud is discovered, but Kirsch is determined to play the main role and stresses Meisel because he wants to unmask himself.
The premiere of “Wilhelm Tell” takes place in the fifth picture. When the performance is over, the performers receive the furious applause with a Hitler salute instead of a bow. The curtain closes, but Kirsch steps out again, to the horror of Meisel, who thinks that Kirsch is now unmasking. Arthur only thanks that he can play the tell in front of this audience and says goodbye. After the performance is over, Kirsch speaks to Olga Sternberg, who tells him that she is also a Jew and has already recognized who he really is. A short time later, Helene comes and tells Kirsch excitedly that Dr. Joseph Goebbels come to the next performance.
After Helene and Kirsch leave the stage, Strassky and Olga kiss, but they are watched and two Gestapo officers appear who arrest Strassky because he has something with a Jew and Olga because she is a Jew. Olga is allowed to stay at the theater for the time being, because there is no replacement for her. The morning after the premiere party, Kirsch and Polacek are drunk and Polacek feels like he wants to kill Kirsch, but he can't bring himself to do it. A little later Helene comes in with newspapers. She tells everyone that the reviews are very positive and that they praise the performance.
After the performance in the sixth picture, at which Joseph Goebbels is present, Goebbels comes on stage and gives a speech about theater under National Socialism . He informs Kirsch that he has been included in the "Book of God Gifted". When Kirsch is supposed to give an acceptance speech, he gets nothing over the lips due to his nervousness and the curtain falls. Helene comes to the two of them and Kirsch leaves. Then Goebbels tries to kiss Helene and she returns the kiss after a brief protest.
In the seventh picture, the real Benedikt Höllrigl comes on stage. The two Gestapo officers, who are still investigating the actors, confront him with the fact that he is suspected of being the Jew Arthur Kirsch because of complaints from Strassky and Polacek. The Gestapo officer then examines whether he has the same scar on his knee as it is in the draft records of the First World War. But since it really is Höllrigl, the Gestapo officer finds the scar and apologizes, embarrassed. They also want to arrest Olga again. In the meantime, however, this has been confirmed by a personal letter from Dr. Goebbels was Aryanized. So the officers arrested the actors Strassky and Polacek. After the Gestapo officers have left, Kirsch comes back on stage and is invited by the real Höllrigl to his courtyard so that he can get to safety there. At the end of the seventh picture, Arthur and Helene's children, who in the meantime have lived at the real Höllrigl, come in and at the end perform a passage from Nathan the Wise .
History of origin
Felix Mitterer was inspired by the incredible life story of Leo Reuss. Leo Reuss was an Austrian actor who appeared in the Berlin State Theater from 1923 to 1934. At the end of 1934 he was banned from work by the National Socialists because he was a Jew. The following year Leo Reuss fled the Nazis and went back to Austria . But even here he was hardly better off. Eventually he went into hiding and the rumor spread that he had emigrated to America . In the summer of 1936 he went to Max Reinhardt in Salzburg under the false name of Kaspar Brandhofer , with the concern that he wanted to go to the theater. After an audition, Max Reinhardt sent him to the theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna . He played in the successful premiere of "Fräulein Else" and received extremely positive reviews. After the reviews appeared, he revealed his real identity. His intention to stand there as a hero and also to gain recognition as a Jew, however, did not work out, he was even reported for fraud and received no further offers of roles. Reuss finally decided to emigrate and emigrated to America. There he became a film actor who took part in 45 films, both large and small. He did not celebrate any great success in the USA . He died of a heart attack in Manila on April 1, 1946 .
Felix Mitterer did not take over the entire life story of Leo Reuss, but only the basic story: An actor who got into great distress due to National Socialism, was finally even dismissed, was no longer offered roles and despite all odds, returned to the theater as an "Aryan". The title "In the Lions 'Den" makes Mitterer's reference to the Bible story " Daniel in the Lions' Den " clearer. Mitterer chose the comparison with the Bible story “Daniel in the lions' den” from the book of Daniel, verses 2–29, from the Old Testament as the basic theme. Just as Daniel survived the night in the lions 'den through his unshakable faith, Arthur Kirsch survived his return to the "lions' den" in the play by Felix Mitterer because of his unshakable belief in himself, which is the center of power of the National Socialists in Berlin . Mitterer wrote the work in the 1990s and it premiered on January 24, 1998 in the Vienna Volkstheater .
Classification in the literary epoch
The work can be classified in contemporary literature in Austria after 1945. The era starts in 1945 and continues into our time. The year 1933 is often referred to as a literary zero point because the book burnings created a vacuum in art and culture that was only replenished after World War II.
The poetic freedom resulted in innovative short stories and modern dramas . The content of the works is mostly focused on the preservation of religious , ethnic and conservative values. These things were suppressed by the National Socialists during the Second World War , which is why many works also refer to this time. The authors are trying to come to terms with the Austrian past and take a critical look at it. The titles that belong to this era are not automatically located in the present, despite the name. The festivals in Bregenz , Salzburg and other places gave the artists the opportunity to present their pieces.
Contemporary literature refers to the literature available on the market by living Austrian authors . The term can be used to describe literature production, literature publication, but also criticism and reception.
Single receipts
- Mitterer, F. (1998); In der Löwengrube A play and its historical background Innsbruck; Haymon - Verlag, pp. 1-142
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Felix Mitterer: In der Löwengrube A play and its historical background . Ed .: Felix Mitterer. Haymon Verlag, Innsbruck 1998, ISBN 3-85218-249-2 , p. 142 .