Le Comte Öderland

Graf Öderland, subtitled A Moritat in Twelve Pictures, is a drama by the Swiss writer Max Frisch. Inspired by a newspaper report, Frisch wrote his first prose sketch in 1946, which was published the following year as part of Tagebuch mit Marion (Diary with Marion). Frisch adapted the material several times for the theatre. The premiere of the first drama version took place on 10 February 1951 at the Schauspielhaus Zürich, directed by Leonard Steckel, and was Frisch's first failure on stage. Frisch's second adaptation, staged on 4 February 1956 by Fritz Kortner at the Kleines Haus der Städtischen Bühnen Frankfurt, had a stronger political emphasis. With the third and final version, Frisch largely returned to his original diary sketch. It premiered on 25 September 1961 at the Schiller Theatre in Berlin, directed by Hans Lietzau, and was included in Frisch's collected works published in 1975. Although all three stage adaptations were unsuccessful with critics and audiences alike, Graf Öderland remained the drama with which Frisch felt most connected. He described it as his favourite and most mysterious play. The plot begins with the seemingly senseless murder of a conscientious bank clerk who kills a caretaker with an axe. Only the public prosecutor shows any understanding of the crime, which inspires him to break out of his orderly life. From then on, he follows the legend of Count Öderland, roaming the countryside with an axe in his hand and killing anyone who stands in the way of his claim to freedom. Supporters rally behind the leading figure of Count Öderland, and the prosecutor's individual act escalates into general unrest. The rebellion ultimately leads to a political upheaval, without the prosecutor achieving the freedom he longs for. Characteristic of Count Öderland is the blending of private and political motives, which can be traced back to two main themes in Frisch's work: the longing to break free from social constraints and a growing criticism of the bourgeois order.