Cycle «The Flying Carpet» Literary-Musical Island Journeys

Description

Robert Louis Stevenson: The Bottle Imp Reading: Vera Bommer Music: from Hawaii with Charlie Fischer (vocals and ukuleles), Sandra Merk (bass ukulele), and Pascal Biedermann (Steel Guitar) Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), the creator of Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, lived from 1890 until his death in Samoa, where he had retreated due to his lung tuberculosis. There, he wrote the novella The Bottle Imp in 1891 and was given the honorary name «Tusitala» – the storyteller – by the locals. The story was inspired by a stay in Hawaii, where the plot also takes place. The dream of a happy life on an island has not lost its fascination to this day – despite overtourism, climate crisis, and political crises. Vera Bommer, actress and long-time SRF speaker, who last enchanted us with Mark Twain's Adam and Eve on the Flying Carpet, takes us into Stevenson's mysterious island world. The musical framework is formed by traditional and modern sounds from Hawaii with singer and ukulele player Charlie Fischer, guitarist Pascal Biedermann, and bassist Sandra Merk. They met at the legendary Basel «Hula Club», once a meeting place for Hawaiian music. Biedermann plays a Lap-Steel guitar, which he inherited from a Hawaiian musician – almost like the spirit from the bottle in Stevenson's story... Concept «The Flying Carpet»: Klaus Hemmerle Collaboration with the Rigiblick Theater Zurich