Felicia Chin-Malenski

At Whitsun the lion king Nobel invites his subjects to his court for an early summer celebration. The entire animal kingdom gathers – ranging from the crane to the wolf and the bear. Only one animal is missing: the fox called Reineke. As soon as his name his mentioned, the mood of harmony vanishes. One angry accusation follows another and Reinike the fox is charged in his absence with a series of incredible crimes. The cockerel, for example, complains of losing his wife and children – Reineke ate them for supper. When he is eventually put on trial, the accomplished liar – an animal equivalent of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt – manages to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes – man, woman or creature – and slip his neck out of the noose. Eventually he even acquires a whole crowd of followers and is elected Chancellor.

The moral of the story is that not everyone with foxy cunning and a talent for oratory puts those gifts to benevolent use – on the contrary! But how can we tell the difference between truth and lies? How can we avoid being taken in by the peddlers of fake news? How can we remain faithful to our own opinions and values?

«Let’s say someone comes up to you and tells you you’re such and such a person, tells you the worst, says the most appalling things, things that could kill someone, absolutely destroy them, leave them speechless and lifeless. And then you say: Yes, that’s what I’m like, it’s true, but … But so what?» – With these words Prince Philip attempts to break down the reserve of his new fiancée Yvonne, but they also describe the essential plot of this first play by the Polish author Witold Gombrowicz.