Kyall Rakoz describes his one-man show Ludwig & Lohengrin as “a fairy tale for adults.” It is another in a string of former Calgary Fringe Festival shows to hit local stages recently — it debuted at the 2013 Fringe — and tells the story of Ludwig II who served as the king of Bavaria from 1864 until 1886.
“He was obsessed with fairy tales he loved them he got lost in them” says Rakoz adding that Ludwig was an ardent patron of the arts and devotee of opera composer Richard Wagner. (The show’s title references a Wagner opera Lohengrin.)
Ludwig also started building one of the world’s most famous and elaborate castles Neuschwanstein though he died before it was completed.
Rakoz first became aware of Ludwig while a child at home. “My parents visited the castle years and years ago. There was a picture of it that always hung in the house. They told me ‘You have to see this castle’” he says.
And he took their advice. He travelled to Germany in 2012 and toured Neuschwanstein for himself. After that Rakoz says he knew he wanted to write a show based on Ludwig’s life legend and legacy. “There’s so much natural drama in his story…. His character pulled at my heart strings this man who was so interesting and enigmatic and so loved fairy tales.
“He was this big child who was forced to be king and never really wanted to be.”
History has bestowed upon Ludwig the sobriquet “Mad King Ludwig” something Rakoz attributes in part to both his reclusive nature and temper. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he had some sort of mental illness” he adds.
Moreover Ludwig was completely unprepared for the task at hand when he ascended to the throne at the age of 18 upon the sudden death of his father. Ludwig was also gay never married and never produced an heir something that upset his political advisors — and Rakoz theorizes caused personal conflict within the King himself. “He was raised a Catholic…. I saw in him a struggle to reconcile his sexuality and his religion. Many people in that situation would be ‘mad’’ he says.
Rakoz portrays 17 characters throughout the show all of whom shed light on Ludwig his personality and his struggles. However he never portrays Ludwig himself. “He didn’t want to be out there” says Rakoz explaining his choice to tell Ludwig’s story through the voices of others.
In fact Ludwig once said “I wish to remain an eternal enigma to myself and to others.”
Offering so many different perspectives also reflects the many conflicting historical accounts of Ludwig. “Who he was is somewhere in all the stories. I want to let audiences make up their own minds about who he really was as I did” says Rakoz.
One question that lingers regards Ludwig’s relationship with Wagner. Rakoz says “a wealth” of letters between the two survive and their affectionate tone has led some to speculate a romantic relationship might have existed between the two.
Based on his own research Rakoz suggests Ludwig did love Wagner and that Wagner — a notorious womanizer — used that to advance his influence with the King.
The show will run at Third Street Theatre which has a mandate to focus on “the positive promotion of queer culture stories and voices.” Rakoz says the struggles Ludwig faced in trying to to reconcile his spirituality and sexuality more than a century ago are still pertinent today.
“There’s something disheartening in a sense that we’ve struggled with this for hundreds of years and still not made any headway but there’s something comforting in the fact that it has connected us to the past.”
Ludgwig and Lohengrin runs from February 24 to 28 at Motel (Arts Commons).
