A CONTROVERSIAL stage comedy inspired by the saga of Josef Fritzl opened in Vienna last night, complete with a police guard to protect the production from protesters disgusted at the dramatisation of the story of the man who imprisoned and abused his daughter for more than 20 years.
Director and star Hubsi Kramar has been forced to change its title from Pension Fritzl – a Cellar Soapto Pension Fbecause of the outcry. Tickets for last night's opening sold out.
The play centres on the story of Fritzl (74), who goes on trial next month for imprisoning and sexually abusing his daughter Elisabeth, by whom he fathered seven children over 24 years. Kramar (60) has received death threats in the run-up to the premiere.
The 3raumanatomietheater staging the play has been vandalised, with promotional posters ripped from walls and the stage door sealed with superglue.
“The media hunt is beginning to have an effect,” Kramar said. “It will be dangerous for all involved.” The critics had been too quick to judge the production and, far from being a “comedy about incest”, it was a “satire about the media” and its coverage of Fritzl.
Kramar is well-known as an agent provocateur. In 2000, he appeared at Vienna's Opera Ball dressed as Adolf Hitler in protest at the far-right Freedom party's entry into government. His most famous role was as an SS guard in Steven Spielberg's 1993 film Schindler's List.