The Captain of Köpenick (play)

"The Captain of Köpenick" ( _de. Der Hauptmann von Köpenick) is a satirical play by the German dramatist Carl Zuckmayer. First produced in 1931, the play tells the story, based on a true event that happened in 1906, of a down-on-his-luck ex-convict shoemaker (Wilhelm Voigt) who impersonates an army captain, holds the mayor of a small town to ransom, and successfully "confiscates" the town's treasury. The Prussian cult of the uniform ensures that the townspeople are all-too willing to obey his orders, in stark contrast to the treatment the hero was given before he donned the uniform. [Banham (1998, 1231), Mortimer (1971) and Zuckmayer (1971).] Zuckmayer described the story as a "German fairy tale". Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany during the first run of the play and the Nazis soon closed the production. [Mortimer (1971).]

The play was first produced in London in 1953 and subsequently at the Old Vic by the National Theatre Company in 1971, with Paul Scofield as Wilhelm Voigt. [Zuckmayer (1971).] It has been adapted for film and television many times.

In exploring the situation of a town duped by a character impersonating an authoritative figure, the plays bears some resemblance to Nikolai Gogol's Russian classic, "The Government Inspector" (1836). Friedrich Dürrenmatt used a similar dramaturgical structure—the visitor from outside to a provincial town—to satirical ends in "The Visit" (1956).

Notes

References

* Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. "The Cambridge Guide to Theatre." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521434378.
* Mortimer, John. 1971. Introduction. In Zuckmayer (1971).
* Zuckmayer, Carl. 1971. "The Captain of Köpenick" Trans. and adapted by John Mortimer. London: Methuen. ISBN 0416671004.