TOBS! presents the premiere of The Black Rider, The Casting of the Magic Bullets by Tom Waits, Robert Wilson and William S. Burroughs. It takes place at the Biel Municipal Theatre on Friday 4 December 2026 at 7.30 pm.
The story
The work premiered on 31 March 1990 at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg. It played at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on 9 October 1990.
Robert Wilson created the original staging, Tom Waits the music and William S. Burroughs the libretto.
The lyrics are by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan.
The story draws on Johann August Apel's tale and the Freischütz motif, earlier set as an opera by Carl Maria von Weber.
Wilhelm, a young clerk, makes a pact with the devil to marry the gamekeeper's daughter. He receives magic bullets that always hit their target, except the last one.
Tom Waits released the music from the show on the album The Black Rider in 1993.
An English-language version opened at the Barbican in London in May 2004, with Marianne Faithfull.
Since 1994 more than 100 licensed productions have been staged, mostly in German-speaking and Scandinavian countries.
In Biel, Olivier Tambosi and Iwan Wassilevski offer a new reading. It is their fifth collaboration with TOBS!, after Sweeney Todd, Cabaret and Im weissen Rössl (The White Horse Inn).
Who organises it
The show is produced by TOBS!, the Biel Solothurn Theatre and Orchestra.
What to find
Direction and set by Olivier Tambosi, musical direction by Iwan Wassilevski. Costumes by Anna-Sophie Lienbacher, lighting by Samuele D'Amico.
Christian Manuel Oliveira plays Wilhelm and Katharina Willi plays Käthchen.
With Christiane Boesiger, Anna Murphy, Fabian Netos-Claus, Christoph Wettstein and Konstantin Nazlamov.
The Biel Solothurn Symphony Orchestra accompanies the cast.
Further Biel dates on 8, 30 and 31 December 2026, then 5, 7, 26, 28 and 31 January 2027. The 30 December show offers audio description.
Practical information
- Dates, Friday 4 December 2026 (premiere)
- Time, 7.30 pm
- Venue, Municipal Theatre, Rue du Bourg 19, 2502 Biel
- Age, 12 and over
- Tickets, online at tickets.tobs.ch
We have gathered here all the information published by the organiser to date. Do you have more? Write to us, and the article will be completed.
Links
- TOBS!, show page
- TOBS! tickets, Biel premiere
- All events across French-speaking Switzerland, Genève Infos Agenda
Sources
- TOBS!, show page, accessed on 14 November 2026
- TOBS!, premieres, accessed on 14 November 2026
- Robert Wilson, work page, accessed on 14 November 2026
- Wikipedia, The Black Rider, accessed on 14 November 2026
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