Protests and Death Threats over Fritzl Satire

An update on our January 14th post, the comedy based on Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who imprisoned, abused and impregnanted his daughter, has raised a tremendous amount of controversy. Police were on guard at it's opening in Vienna the other night after huge protests for the play to be banned. The production's director and star, Hubsi Kramar, has received death threats and the theatre, 3raum-anatomietheater, has been vandalized. Kramer has said the critics have been too quick to judge the show and that, far from being a "comedy about incest", it's a "satire about the media". Click here for a detailed article.

Josef Fritzl Incest Soap Opera to Open in Vienna

A German producer once told me she thought the English-language theatre (primarily Broadway and the West End) were all about appealing to the lowest common denominator and filling the houses with as many people as they could, where German-language theatre in Austria, Germany and Switzerland were about alienating as many people as possible. This theory may be put to the test soon. The 3raum-anatomietheater in Vienna says it will mount a satirical soap opera based on Josef Fritzl, the man accused of holding his daughter captive for 24 years and fathered her 7 children. Fritzl, whose trail is set for March, is accused of rape, incest, false imprisonment, enslavement and murder. The production is being directed by the well-known Austrian comedian, Hubsi Kramer, who, in the past, attempted to attend Vienna’s Opera Ball dressed as Adolf Hitler. The show is titled Fritzl’s Bed and Breakfast and opens February 23.