This Day Forward - In The Past ... On The Ground

But first of all, Geyer was an actor. From a very young age, Richard plunged into the world of backstage. The boy’s first attitude to the theater as to some mysterious other world is very significant. His romantic worldview begins to emerge here - in an atmosphere of fantastic scenery and bewitching music. Soon he himself began to take a direct part in the performances. In his autobiography, Wagner notes one funny episode. When he was entrusted with the role “with words” in the play of August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue Menschenhass und Reue (the most famous play Kotzebue, known in USA under the name “Hatred of people and repentance”), he, without preparing a lesson at school, referred that he was learning a big role in the play Menchen ausser der Reihe: Richard, who did not understand the meaning of the play and tried to remember the name simply “by ear”, had a completely different meaning - “People out of the ordinary”.