Othoon

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Othoon is a play by Tankred Dorst based loosely on Calderón's " Das Leben ein Traum ". The play was premiered on January 19, 2002 under the direction of Alexander Brill at the Schauspiel Frankfurt .

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The king's son Othoon was locked in a dark cave for twenty years. Any dialogue with the prisoner was forbidden to the guard. Now the king - now senile and ill - lets the son go free. The naked caveman is announced that he will become king. But first of all, Othoon has to learn to speak. Othoon's brother puts Othoon, the colored, in the picture: The king once turned away from the queen - mother of two royal children - and turned to a negress. The latter had not survived the birth of Othoon.

Othoon tries to approach his sister Karna. The old king realizes that Othoon is not fit to be a king. This son appears to the ruler as an animal. Othoon is brought back to his cave.

The Chancellor enters the prison and releases Othoon with good news: War has been waged against his brother in Othoon's name. After the victory of Othoon's troops, his way to the throne was paved. The king has since died of old age.

Othoon wants to be king. The captured brother is brought forward. Othoon releases him - a mistake, as the Chancellor teaches the King-elect.

Rumor has it that Othoon killed his father. Nobody wants to crown Othoon. The impatient does it himself without further ado. His reign will soon come to an abrupt end. Left alone at court, men put him in a sack and drag him away.

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annotation

  1. The Calderón Polish king's son Sigismund became Prince Othoon, son of a black mother, at Tankred Dorst.

Individual evidence

  1. suhrkamp.de/theater & media
  2. Edition used, p. 414, first entry
  3. Edition used, p. 22, 14. Zvu