Drayman Henschel
| Drayman Henschel | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Gerhart Hauptmann |
| Characters | Drayman Henschel Mrs Henschel Hanne Schael Bertha Horse Dealer Walther Siebenhaar Karlchen Wermelskirch Mrs Wermelskirch Franziska Wermelskirch Hauffe Franz George Fabig Hildebrant Veterinarian Grunert Fireman |
| Date premiered | 5 November 1898 |
| Place premiered | Deutsches Theater, Berlin |
| Original language | German |
| Genre | Naturalism |
| Setting | Grey Swan Hotel, Silesia Late 1860s |
Drayman Henschel (Template:Lang-de), also known as Carter Henschel, is an 1898 five-act naturalistic play by the German playwright Gerhart Hauptmann.[1] Unlike his 1892 play The Weavers, Hauptmann focuses on the story's psychological rather than social dimensions.[2] As with his 1902 play Rose Bernd, the play charts the demise of an ordinary person who falls victim to circumstances beyond his or her control.[3] As with many of Hauptmann's dramas, it ends with its main character's suicide.[4]
Hauptmann began writing the play in 1897 and completed it the following year, when it was also first published.[5] It received its première in Berlin, opening at the Deutsches Theater on 5 November 1898.[5]
The seminal theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski directed a Russian-language production of the play as part of the second season of the Moscow Art Theatre.[6] Stanislavski worked on his production plan for the play during a holiday in March 1899 and rehearsals began in April; his score included the off-stage noises of striking billiard balls, coins clinking, and a banal waltz.[7] The production opened on 17 October [O.S. 5 October] 1899.[8] V. L. Yuren'yeva wrote of the production:
The people are really alive . . . There is very little make-up and no 'theatricality' whatsoever. The eat real sausage for breakfast, slice cheese with holes in it from a square block. The housemaids smell of freshly starched aprons and the rustle of their skirts can be heard about the stage. The actors literally ignore the audience, acting for and between themselves. They are swallowed up by their own feelings, weigh and absorb the eye contact of their fellow actors.[9]
There were at least two other productions of the play in Russia that year—one at the private Korsch Theatre (which opened on 31 August 1899) and another at the Maly (which opened on 2 September 1899).[10]
References
- ^ Banham (1998, 476), Hartnoll (1983, 377), and Lewisohn (1913).
- ^ Jelavich (1984, 455).
- ^ Jelavich (1984, 455) and Worrall (1996, 114).
- ^ Hartnoll (1983, 377).
- ^ a b Jelavich (1984, 462).
- ^ Benedetti (1999, 92, 386).
- ^ Benedetti (1999, 92) and Worrall (1996, 115).
- ^ Benedetti (1999, 386) and Worrall (1996, 114).
- ^ Quoted by Worrall (1996, 115).
- ^ Benedetti (1991, 51) and Worrall (1996, 114).
Sources
- Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. ISBN 0521434378.
- Benedetti, Jean, ed. and trans. 1991. The Moscow Art Theatre Letters. London: Methuen. ISBN 041369870X
- ---. 1999. Stanislavski: His Life and Art. Revised edition. Original edition published in 1988. London: Methuen. ISBN 0413525201.
- Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. 1983. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford UP. ISBN 0192115464.
- Jelavich, Peter. 1984. "Hauptmann, Gerhart." In McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama: an International Reference Work in 5 Volumes. Vol. 2. Ed. Stanley Hochman. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. 452-463. ISBN 0070791694.
- Lewisohn, Ludwig, trans. 1913. Drayman Henschel By Gerhart Hauptmann. In The Dramatic Works of Gerhart Hauptmann. Volume Two: Social Dramas. Ed. Ludwig Lewisohn. New York: Huebsch. 1-156. Available online.
- Worrall, Nick. 1996. The Moscow Art Theatre. Theatre Production Studies ser. London and NY: Routledge. ISBN 0415055989.