Myth game

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The Mythspiel is a play by the Swiss writer Herbert Meier , which was staged on a large open-air stage in Schwyz in 1991 on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation . The name refers on the one hand to the two myths against whose backdrop the theater was performed and on the other hand to myths as the plural of myth . The myths of Swiss history are examined in a time-critical way . Both legendary figures and historical figures appear.

action

Teiler, a middle-aged man, wakes up to the two myths after a car accident. Vinz, the captain, invites him on a theatrical night drive that confronts him with events and characters from his origins and history. This night drive also becomes a search for the woman who was in the car with him. As a stranger, she meets him on the various stages of his journey. As in a dream , Teiler experiences sufferings, deeds, visions and messages from the dead he encounters. At first he is beset by magical natural beings, all of which come from the legendary world of Uri . He is writing a letter of freedom for the legendary Drei Tellen without knowing that it is a state mythological document. Shortly thereafter, the funeral procession of the defeated Swiss warriors from Marignano passed him. Teiler witnesses a courtly society of patricians in which a happy festival is abruptly ended by the plague . Even Paracelsus cannot help him out of the resulting deep despair. In the Old Lord, who he meets at the Schwyz Carnival and who bears Pestalozzi's traits , he fails to recognize the human educator and only seems to grasp his utopias late. He passes a peacemaker like Dunant , who has degenerated into a clochard . Rather, he admires tourism pioneers like the Obwalden Bucher and Durrer , who convert the mountains into a mechanical housing. He forgets the message of the "original law of freedom" entrusted to him by the philosopher Troxler as soon as he comes into the power of the new founders of the state and their contradictions. After an apocalyptic lightning storm, with the construction of the Gotthard tunnel in mind, Teiler wakes up. Vinz, who exposed him to many deceptions in the course of the game, calls him back to the living. His wife Barbara is waiting for him in the midst of many contemporaries.

characters

Many characters from customs and legends that have been forgotten appear in the «Myths Game». The siren-like catwalks, which according to old folk tradition lurked on the bridges "as a transition from the known to the unknown" for night hikers, were moved by Herbert Meier to the edge of the autobahns as a tempting distraction. Like the bridge cats, the Greiss von Surenen comes from the legendary book “The Golden Ring of Uri” by Eduard Renner . The animal that has become a monster through outrageous baptism always appears wherever there is a violation of valid custom and morals. The equally monstrous glass pane dog is black and blinds careless people with its huge forehead eye. In the «Mythspiel», its bright high beam is responsible for the car accident at the beginning.

From the "Schwyzer Sagen" by Hans Steinegger comes the legend of the Three Tells, which would always come when the fatherland were in need. According to tradition, they still dwell on earth to save their country from bad luck. One of the men is said to have been Wilhelm Tell , the others probably Walter Fürst von Uri and Werner Stauffacher von Schwyz. Alluding to Marignano, the Drei Tellen tell of a great battle in the «Mythspiel», which blurs the lines between myth and history.

Official festival in summer 1991

Revival of a festival tradition

At the Swiss anniversary celebrations in 1891 and 1941 , a pompous festival was performed in Schwyz , characterized by heroism and patriotism . This is particularly true of 1941, when the celebrations were all about spiritual national defense . Whether a similar drama should be organized again in 1991 was a long discussion. The original concept for a state exhibition CH91 around Lake Lucerne failed in a referendum in 1987. As an alternative, the federal government decided in 1989 to implement a concept with decentralized celebrations in all parts of the country. This also included a new festival in Schwyz.

The Schwyz organizing committee commissioned Herbert Meier to write a suitable play. The young Zurich composer Daniel Schnyder was won over for the music . The search for a director and leading actors turned out to be more difficult because many critical Swiss artists did not want to take part in such a festive event after the fishing scandal. The Viennese Hans Hoffer, however, was ready and at the same time took over the direction and conception of the stage construction. Despite financial hardship, it was possible to build a large open-air stage on the Brüöl area in Schwyz in a short construction phase of just four months, which corresponded to the landscape theater that Herbert Meier had in mind. The stage optimally incorporated the landscape and neighboring patrician houses. The “landmark” of the construction was an oversized, two-dimensional head whose gaze was directed towards the myths and through which the spectators reached the stands. Laser cannons and other technical effects were used to include the landscape in the evening performances.

Professional actors, mainly from Germany and Austria , could be recruited for the ensemble of the «Mythenspiel» , who complemented the local amateur actors and took on the leading roles. The piece celebrated its premiere on July 20, 1991 with a performance of just over two hours. Until September 7th, the "Mythspiel" was performed a total of 24 times.

Criticism of plays and performances

The budget of almost ten million francs for the festival alone was heavily criticized. The content of the play was also criticized by the media as “too aloof” after the premiere, although most of the viewers were impressed. The bad media coverage and the unusual break with the heroic festival tradition contributed to the fact that the «Mythenspiel» recorded a drop in visitors. Instead of the expected 80,000, only just under 50,000 visitors came, which accounted for a large part of the deficit of the performances of around 1.5 million francs.

occupation

Festival of the Confederation

In addition to the «Mythspiel», other festivities were held throughout the country in 1991 to mark the 700th anniversary of the Confederation . The official events, which took place throughout the year , such as the Heureka research exhibition in Zurich , culminated in the five-day festival of the Confederation in the Innerschwyz region . On July 31, a schoolchild from every Swiss community was invited to the Rütli for Youth Day . There, in the presence of Federal President Flavio Cotti , the children received a message that they should read out in their community at the national celebration . On August 1st, the original cantons welcomed the Federal Council and other guests of honor to celebrate on the Rütli, in Brunnen and Schwyz . Finally, from August 2nd to 4th, a folk festival took place in Brunnen with traditional groups from all over Switzerland, as well as fireworks over Lake Lucerne .

The Path of Switzerland , which opened in May 1991, serves as the only permanent reminder of the 700th anniversary celebrations . The historical Museum Forum Schweizer Geschichte in Schwyz, which has existed since 1995, was also originally intended to be realized as part of the anniversary.

literature

  • Herbert Meier: Myths game. A large landscape theater with music . Munich 1991.
  • Culture Commission of the Canton of Schwyz (Ed.): 700 years of the Confederation in the Canton of Schwyz . Schwyz 1991.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Festival 1907. The foundation of Schwyz. With the Japanese in Yeddo-Schwyz, pp. 68-70.