Book Review: Backstage Domains: Playing "William Tell" in Two Swiss Communities

Authors

Donald G. Tritt

Keywords

Folklore, Peter Lang, Schiller, Swiss theatre, Swiss tourism

Abstract

Written by a folklore scholar, this book is a detailed, behind-the-scenes account of the many aspects required for staging Schiller's play, William Tell. To accomplish this, the author undertakes a comparative approach by studying production of the play in two Swiss communities, Altdorf and Interlaken - communities the author sees as "culturally distinct and each embodying different values of Swiss society." The author notes that Altdorf tends to be the guardian of Tell's memory while Interlaken functions at the forefront of Swiss tourism. Separate chapters on each of these two Swiss communities provides an interesting historical account of the area and a description of the organizational structures designed to stage the long-running William Tell play, in Altdorf since 1899 and in Interlaken since 1912.

Recommended Citation

Tritt, Donald G. (1998) "Book Review: Backstage Domains: Playing "William Tell" in Two Swiss Communities," Swiss American Historical Society Review: Vol. 34: No. 2, Article 6.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol34/iss2/6