Raimund and Vienna

Ferdinand Raimund (1790-1836) was a noted comic actor in the tradition of the Viennese Popular Theatre. He wrote plays to suit the talents of his ensemble at the Leopoldstadt comedy theatre and to entertain the Viennese community, but a powerful ambition to rise above the merely local drove him to develop the conventional dramatic forms beyond their traditional limits. Dorothy Prohaska examines his plays, and discusses their local characteristics as well as their individuality. She is closely informed about the Vienna of the time, and many sections of the book, showing in detail how the plays draw on contemporary life, are full of colourful detail about the city itself. She reveals the complexity of Raimund's development as a playwright within the popular tradition and assesses his achievement as an original dramatist.