About the work
Der Ruf der Wildnis is the stage version of Jack London's 1903 adventure novel "The Call of the Wild." The novel tells of the domestic dog Buck, who is stolen from a sheltered life in California and sold as a sled dog into the icy north, where, in the days of the Klondike Gold Rush, survival is a daily struggle. London depicts Buck's gradual return to his primal instincts — his transformation from a domesticated animal into the leader of a wolf pack. The work is among the most widely read American novels and is often staged as a powerful piece about nature, freedom and wildness for audiences of all ages.
Plot
Buck, a powerful cross between a St Bernard and a shepherd, lives carefree on a California estate until he is stolen and sold to the north. As a sled dog he learns the harsh "law of club and fang" and fights his way up the team's hierarchy until he defeats the lead dog Spitz. After several cruel owners, Buck finds in the gold prospector John Thornton a man he serves out of deep devotion. But when Thornton is killed, the last tie to civilisation is severed: Buck finally answers the call of the wild and joins a wolf pack.
Cultural significance
Jack London's slim novel became a worldwide success and shaped the genre of animal and wilderness literature. Buck's story reflects London's own experiences in the Klondike as well as his thinking, influenced by Darwin and Nietzsche, about instinct, adaptation and the survival of the fittest. "The Call of the Wild" has been filmed and adapted for the stage many times; its archaic force and the animal's point of view still make the material a gripping evening of theatre about the relationship between human, animal and nature.