‘The Flying Carpet’ series: Literary and musical journeys to the islands

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 author of Treasure Island and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, lived in Samoa from 1890 until his death, having retired there due to tuberculosis. It was there that 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 is also set.

The dream of a happy life on an island has lost none of its fascination to this day – despite overtourism, the climate crisis and political turmoil.

Vera Bommer, actress and long-standing SRF presenter, who most recently delighted audiences on *Der Fliegende Teppich* with Mark Twain’s *Adam and Eve*, whisks us away to Stevenson’s mysterious island world.
The musical backdrop is provided by traditional and modern sounds from Hawaii, featuring singer and ukulele player Charlie Fischer, guitarist Pascal Biedermann and bassist Sandra Merk. They met at Basel’s legendary ‘Hula Club’, once a hub for Hawaiian music. Biedermann plays a lap-steel guitar that he inherited from a Hawaiian musician – almost like the genie from the bottle in Stevenson’s tale...

Concept for ‘The Flying Carpet’: Klaus Hemmerle
In collaboration with the Rigiblick Theatre, Zurich