Die gefesselte Phantasie (THE IMAGINATION BOUND)

Imagine a beautiful, peaceful floral island where every inhabitant is a poet. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. In Ferdinand Raimund’s magical play DIE GEFESSELTE PHANTASIE, which premiered at the Theater in der Leopoldstadt in 1828, two wicked sisters arrive to disrupt the peace. An oracle tells the queen that, to banish them from the island, she would need to marry a partner worthy of her. The strong-willed queen, for her part, has sworn an oath to only ever marry a poet. When she tries to resolve the conflict amicably, the wicked sisters lay the island to waste and all the courtiers flee. The queen announces that she will marry the man who writes her the most beautiful poem. But the sisters thwart her plan by taking all imagination captive so that no one is able to write poems anymore. From this point onwards, the grotesque and fantastical play takes a bizarre turn.

Herbert Fritsch, specialist for comedies and author of funny whimsical plays, will free the imagination. In recent years he directed THE IMAGINARY INVALID and THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, among other productions, at the Burgtheater. This is Fritsch’s first magical play by Ferdinand Raimund. Raimund himself took to the stage for the world premiere, playing Nachtigall, the harpist. It cannot be ruled out that Fritsch might do the same.