Popular Theatre in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth- Century Vienna: Stage Characters and Performance Sites
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1995 Popular Theatre in Eighteenth- And Nineteenth- Century Vienna: Stage Characters and Performance Sites. Gregory John Dykhouse Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Dykhouse, Gregory John, "Popular Theatre in Eighteenth- And Nineteenth-Century Vienna: Stage Characters and Performance Sites." (1995). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6093. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6093 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter free, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell Sl Howell Information Company 300 North Zoeb Rood, Ann Aibor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/321-0600 POPULAR THEATRE IN EIGHTEENTH- AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY VIENNA: STAGE CHARACTERS AND PERFORMANCE SITES VOLUME I A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Theatre by Gregory J. Dykhouse BA., The University of Michigan, 1987 MA., Bowling Green State University, 1991 December 1995 UMI Mtiabun 9618283 UMI Microform 9618283 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All righto reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS While embarking on graduate studies in Salzburg, Austria, during the academic year 1989-1990, I discovered the jest and lampoon of Viennese popular stage comedy, and the pride that Austrians have of this performance tradition. I attended a series of richly learned lectures on the history of Austrian literature; Dr. Walter Weiss reserved his greatest praise and energy for his presentation of Wiener Komddie. Inspired by his university lectures, I attended my first Johann Nestroy piece, Der bdse Geist Lumpazivagabundus, in Salzburg's Landestheater, with Fritz Muliar in the role of Knieriem, the part which Nestroy wrote for himself. Since this memorable encounter with Austrian theatre, I have had the pleasure to view several productions in the tradition of W ie n e r Kom ddie, including works by Philipp Hafner, Karl Meisl, Mozart, Ferdinand Raimund, Franz Grillparzer, Arthur Schnitzler, Ulrich Becher and Peter Prese, and Carl Laufs and Wilhelm Jacoby. Several Austrians encouraged and supported my study of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Viennese performance sites and comic characters. With a generous grant from the J. William Fulbright Commission between 1993 and 1994, I was able to conduct research in various archives and collections throughout Vienna. The Fulbright officers in Vienna, Executive Secretary Dr. Gunther Fruhwirth, Claudia Janka, and Gunther Fassl, each welcomed me warmly and assisted me immeasureably. Dr. Otto Schindler and Dr. Johann Huttner of the Institut fur Theaterwissenschaft showed great excitement about my work and provided me with valuable guidance and direction. Of my many i i friends who were kind enough to listen to me talk of my theatre research, two of the dearest, Constanze Schuler and Cilgia Caratsch, frequently offered me their time and attention in matters of the theatre that extended beyond the playful Hanswurst to the more urgent themes in Kleist and Chekhov. I thank you both! In the United States, several individuals were equally receptive to my interests in Viennese theatre. The Board of Regents at Louisiana State University supported my PhD candidacy, education and research, with a generous four-year fellowship. I warmly thank the faculty of LSU’s Department of Theatre for providing a wonderful environment to work and grow. Dr. Bill Harbin, Dr. Les Wade, and Dr. Gresdna Doty, the advisor to my study, as well as the other faculty members, have continued to show me much kindness and support. I especially thank Dr. Ron Shields of Bowling Green State University for directing me to LSU’s Department of Theatre. My deepest gratitude, though, remains for my parents, Beverly and Robert, who are neither Germanists nor theatre scholars, yet they helped me with my work in ways that they will never know. Their visits to Baton Rouge and Vienna enriched my experiences, since I was able to share with them my maturity as a student and adult. To these wonderful years and incredible individuals, I reply as did Raimund's character Julius von Flottwell: “Unter diesen Mauern hab ich einen kleinen Schatz gefunden, den mein Vater hier fur mich bewahrte." PREFACE I wanted to write neither a dry, precise topography nor to give a complete, comprehensive description of the greatest, . richest city in Germany. To my knowledge there is no other city which has had so much ridiculous rubbish written about it as has Vienna in this century. Apart from a few unsatisfactory descriptions, no book has been published which gives a philosophical and moral survey of Vienna for the unbiased German public. Johann Pezzl, Sketch of Vienna, 17901 Johann Pezzl (1756-1812) found dissatisfaction in published descriptions of Vienna during the late-eighteenth century. A supporter of Habsburg Emperor Joseph It's reform policies during the 1770s and participating member within Mozart’s masonic lodge, Pezzl attempted to correct the plethora of what he considered fraudulent images of Vienna by writing several “sketches,” one hundred sixty-nine short sections, that illustrated various facets of Viennese life. And today, although contemporary publications and scholarship position Vienna as perhaps the most- frequently analysed city in German-speaking countries, some historical aspects, such as Vienna's grand theatre past, remain insufficiently considered, often erroneously presented, and even entirely neglected, outside the country of Austria.2 1H.C. Robbins Landon, Mozart and Vienna, including selections from Johann Pezzl’s 'Sketch of Vienna’ (1786-90) (London: Thames and Hudson, 1991) 191. 2Ma|or contemporary studies in English that present German-language theatre history include Walter H. Bruford, Theatre, Drama and Audience in Qoethe’a Germany (London: Routledge & Paul, 1950), Marvin Carlson, Goethe and the Wiemar Theatre (Ithaca, i V When considering the collective theatrical history of Vienna, which includes medieval passion plays, baroque drama from the Society of Jesuits, court theatre of the Habsburg family, native and foreign actors in street performances, and opera, one recognizes Vienna as a city of performance and as a mecca for theatrical events. With its medieval, baroque, and suburban “scene changes” throughout history, the city of Vienna boasts a spectacular stage of diversity and eclecticism. As a performance site, Vienna has assumed various shapes throughout history.3 The city's “medieval arena” consisted of numerous platforms upon which artists constructed expressive works, both animate and inanimate. The gothic masterpiece of the St. Stephen's Cathedral has watched over Vienna since the twelfth century; its south tower stands 448 feet high and the nave New York: Cornell UP, 1976), and Simon Williams, German Actors of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries: idealism. Romanticism, and Realism (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 1985); these studies do not, however, concentrate on the theatre history of Austria. One important study on the history of Viennese theatre history is Franz Hadamowsky's Wien: Theatergeschichte: Von den Anfingen bis zum Ende des ersten Wettkriegs [Vienna: Theatre History: From the Beginnings to the End of World War i\ (Vienna: Jugend und Volk, 1988), which also presents the history of Viennese popular comedy during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. A second valuable study that presents this tradition is Otto Rommel's Die Alt-Wiener VotkskomOdie: Ihre Geschichte vom barocken Weft-Theaters bis zum Tode Neatroys