What do you think?
Rate this book
Ernst Toller: Plays One
Includes the plays Transformation, Masses Man, Hoppla, We’re Alive! Preface by Charles Wood.
Ernst Toller (1893-1939) was a formative figure in the development of theatrical modernism, yet his plays have not been available in English since the 1920s and '30s. He was also a revolutionary activist who experienced fully the unbearable cataclysms of his war, revolution, imprisonment, the chaos of Weimar life, Nazi persecution, exile and the Holocaust. His revolutionary intensity infuses these three innovative plays, all of which inspired landmark productions and substantially extended the language of theatricality. These stage-worthy new translations capture that spirit of artistic and political combustion and should help to restore Toller's rightful place in the modern repertoire.
Twenty-seven rarely seen production and design photographs are brought together here for the first time and, with the extensive supplementary material, they create a vivid sense of modern theatre in the making. Essential reading for the contemporary theatre student, scholar, spectator and practitioner.
Ernst Toller (1893-1939) was a formative figure in the development of theatrical modernism, yet his plays have not been available in English since the 1920s and '30s. He was also a revolutionary activist who experienced fully the unbearable cataclysms of his war, revolution, imprisonment, the chaos of Weimar life, Nazi persecution, exile and the Holocaust. His revolutionary intensity infuses these three innovative plays, all of which inspired landmark productions and substantially extended the language of theatricality. These stage-worthy new translations capture that spirit of artistic and political combustion and should help to restore Toller's rightful place in the modern repertoire.
Twenty-seven rarely seen production and design photographs are brought together here for the first time and, with the extensive supplementary material, they create a vivid sense of modern theatre in the making. Essential reading for the contemporary theatre student, scholar, spectator and practitioner.
336 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2000
About the author
Ernst Toller
112 books34 followersErnst Toller (1 December 1893 – 22 May 1939) was a left-wing German playwright, best known for his Expressionist plays and serving as President of the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic, for six days.
Ernst Toller was born in Samotschin, Province of Posen, Prussia in 1893 into a Jewish family. At the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered for military duty, spent thirteen months on the Western Front, and suffered a complete physical and psychological collapse. His first drama, Transformation (Die Wandlung), was to be inspired by his wartime experiences.
Toller was involved in the 1919 Bavarian Soviet Republic, along with other leading anarchists – such as B. Traven and Gustav Landauer – and communists. Toller served as President from April 6 to April 12. It has been said that as a playwright, he was not very good at dealing with politics, and his government did little to restore order in Munich. His government members were also not always well-chosen. For instance, the Foreign Affairs Deputy Dr. Franz Lipp (who had been admitted several times to psychiatric hospitals), declared war on Switzerland over the Swiss refusal to lend 60 locomotives to the Soviet Republic. He also informed Vladimir Lenin via cable that the ousted former Minister-President Hoffmann had fled to Bamberg and taken the key to the ministry toilet with him. On Palm Sunday, April 1919, the Communist Party seized power, with Eugen Leviné as their leader. The republic was short-lived and was defeated by right-wing forces. Toller was imprisoned for his part in the revolution.
While imprisoned, he completed work on Transformation, which premiered in Berlin under the direction of Karlheinz Martin in September 1919. At the time of Transformation's hundredth performance, the Bavarian government offered Toller a pardon, which the writer refused out of solidarity with other political prisoners. Toller would go on to write some of his most celebrated works in prison, including the dramas Masses Man (Masse Mensch), The Machine Breakers (Die Maschinenstürmer), Hinkemann, the German (Der deutsche Hinkemann), and many poems.
It would not be until after his release from prison in July 1925 that he would finally see a performance of one of his plays. In 1925, the most famous of his later dramas, Hoppla, We're Alive! (Hoppla, wir Leben!) directed by Erwin Piscator, premiered in Berlin. It tells the story of a revolutionary who is discharged from a mental hospital after eight years to discover that his once-revolutionary comrades have grown complacent and hopelessly compromised within the system they once opposed. In despair, he kills himself.
In 1933, after the Nazi rise to power, he was exiled from Germany. His citizenship was nullified by the Nazi government later that year. He traveled to London and participated as co-director in the Manchester production of his play Rake Out the Fires (Feuer aus den Kesseln) in 1935.
He went on a lecture tour of the United States and Canada in 1936 and 1937, before settling in California, where he worked on screenplays which remained unproduced. Toller moved to New York City in 1936, where he lived with a group of artists and writers in exile, including Klaus Mann, Erika Mann and Therese Giehse.
Suffering from deep depression (his sister and brother had been arrested and sent to concentration camps) and financial woes (he had given all his money to Spanish Civil War refugees), Toller committed suicide by hanging in his hotel room at the Mayflower Hotel on May 22, 1939.
The English author Robert Payne who knew Toller in Spain and in Paris writes at the end of the entry for May 23rd, 1942 in his Chungking diaries, "Forever China," that almost Toller's last words to him were: "If ever you read that I committed suicide, I beg you not to believe it." Payne continues: "He hanged himself with the silk cord of his nightgown in a hotel in New York two years ago. This is what the newspapers said at the time, but I continue to bel
Ernst Toller was born in Samotschin, Province of Posen, Prussia in 1893 into a Jewish family. At the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered for military duty, spent thirteen months on the Western Front, and suffered a complete physical and psychological collapse. His first drama, Transformation (Die Wandlung), was to be inspired by his wartime experiences.
Toller was involved in the 1919 Bavarian Soviet Republic, along with other leading anarchists – such as B. Traven and Gustav Landauer – and communists. Toller served as President from April 6 to April 12. It has been said that as a playwright, he was not very good at dealing with politics, and his government did little to restore order in Munich. His government members were also not always well-chosen. For instance, the Foreign Affairs Deputy Dr. Franz Lipp (who had been admitted several times to psychiatric hospitals), declared war on Switzerland over the Swiss refusal to lend 60 locomotives to the Soviet Republic. He also informed Vladimir Lenin via cable that the ousted former Minister-President Hoffmann had fled to Bamberg and taken the key to the ministry toilet with him. On Palm Sunday, April 1919, the Communist Party seized power, with Eugen Leviné as their leader. The republic was short-lived and was defeated by right-wing forces. Toller was imprisoned for his part in the revolution.
While imprisoned, he completed work on Transformation, which premiered in Berlin under the direction of Karlheinz Martin in September 1919. At the time of Transformation's hundredth performance, the Bavarian government offered Toller a pardon, which the writer refused out of solidarity with other political prisoners. Toller would go on to write some of his most celebrated works in prison, including the dramas Masses Man (Masse Mensch), The Machine Breakers (Die Maschinenstürmer), Hinkemann, the German (Der deutsche Hinkemann), and many poems.
It would not be until after his release from prison in July 1925 that he would finally see a performance of one of his plays. In 1925, the most famous of his later dramas, Hoppla, We're Alive! (Hoppla, wir Leben!) directed by Erwin Piscator, premiered in Berlin. It tells the story of a revolutionary who is discharged from a mental hospital after eight years to discover that his once-revolutionary comrades have grown complacent and hopelessly compromised within the system they once opposed. In despair, he kills himself.
In 1933, after the Nazi rise to power, he was exiled from Germany. His citizenship was nullified by the Nazi government later that year. He traveled to London and participated as co-director in the Manchester production of his play Rake Out the Fires (Feuer aus den Kesseln) in 1935.
He went on a lecture tour of the United States and Canada in 1936 and 1937, before settling in California, where he worked on screenplays which remained unproduced. Toller moved to New York City in 1936, where he lived with a group of artists and writers in exile, including Klaus Mann, Erika Mann and Therese Giehse.
Suffering from deep depression (his sister and brother had been arrested and sent to concentration camps) and financial woes (he had given all his money to Spanish Civil War refugees), Toller committed suicide by hanging in his hotel room at the Mayflower Hotel on May 22, 1939.
The English author Robert Payne who knew Toller in Spain and in Paris writes at the end of the entry for May 23rd, 1942 in his Chungking diaries, "Forever China," that almost Toller's last words to him were: "If ever you read that I committed suicide, I beg you not to believe it." Payne continues: "He hanged himself with the silk cord of his nightgown in a hotel in New York two years ago. This is what the newspapers said at the time, but I continue to bel
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 26, 2016
Review here: https://mayareadsbooks.wordpress.com/...
Ernst Toller, a young German Jewish playwright, anarchist, and veteran of WWI, abruptly became president of the short-lived Bavarian Council Republic during the German Revolution of 1918. His presidency lasted a few days before being replaced by a Communist government, but it produced some hilarious diplomatic correspondence. Things went bad and Toller was, after the defeat of the Bavarian Council Republic, put on trial for his life, which was saved in part by Max Weber, who knew him and testified in his favor despite disapproving of his political activity.
After his release, he wrote this Expressionist play, about a young revolutionary arrested after a failed revolution suspiciously like the one Toller himself participated in. Karl Thomas goes insane when he thinks one of his comrades will be executed while the others are pardoned. Released from the asylum several years later, he finds his comrade not only alive, but in a position of high power.
His other friends have remained true to the cause, and are organizing against the government, but they counsel patience rather than immediate action. Not having shared their experiences, Karl Thomas can’t understand their choices. After a hilarious and maddening night as a waiter in a hotel, he decides to assassinate the comrade who has become a government minister. But a right-wing group is also plotting against the life of the minister, and things get confused…
Spoilers:
One thing I noticed is that when Karl Thomas is threatened by the police, there is a veiled reference to the deaths of Communist leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht during the revolution. The police first say Karl Thomas will be “shot trying to escape” if he resists–this was the official story of why Liebknecht was shot, later disproven–and then claim he should be grateful to them for protecting him from lynching–the official story of Luxemburg’s death, also disproven.
Toller isn’t a subtle writer most of the time, but his characterizations are clear and dramatic, his plot original, and his social commentary, though again not subtle, is powerful. I don’t agree with anarchism, but Toller’s anarchist beliefs enabled him to ruthlessly criticize his society in an illuminating way. He also drew on his own dramatic experiences as a young man during the revolution to show the types of characters found in such upheavals, from cynics to idealists, while also showing how long-term strategic thought can be mistaken for cynicism when really it is the best way to resist.
Ernst Toller, a young German Jewish playwright, anarchist, and veteran of WWI, abruptly became president of the short-lived Bavarian Council Republic during the German Revolution of 1918. His presidency lasted a few days before being replaced by a Communist government, but it produced some hilarious diplomatic correspondence. Things went bad and Toller was, after the defeat of the Bavarian Council Republic, put on trial for his life, which was saved in part by Max Weber, who knew him and testified in his favor despite disapproving of his political activity.
After his release, he wrote this Expressionist play, about a young revolutionary arrested after a failed revolution suspiciously like the one Toller himself participated in. Karl Thomas goes insane when he thinks one of his comrades will be executed while the others are pardoned. Released from the asylum several years later, he finds his comrade not only alive, but in a position of high power.
His other friends have remained true to the cause, and are organizing against the government, but they counsel patience rather than immediate action. Not having shared their experiences, Karl Thomas can’t understand their choices. After a hilarious and maddening night as a waiter in a hotel, he decides to assassinate the comrade who has become a government minister. But a right-wing group is also plotting against the life of the minister, and things get confused…
Spoilers:
One thing I noticed is that when Karl Thomas is threatened by the police, there is a veiled reference to the deaths of Communist leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht during the revolution. The police first say Karl Thomas will be “shot trying to escape” if he resists–this was the official story of why Liebknecht was shot, later disproven–and then claim he should be grateful to them for protecting him from lynching–the official story of Luxemburg’s death, also disproven.
Toller isn’t a subtle writer most of the time, but his characterizations are clear and dramatic, his plot original, and his social commentary, though again not subtle, is powerful. I don’t agree with anarchism, but Toller’s anarchist beliefs enabled him to ruthlessly criticize his society in an illuminating way. He also drew on his own dramatic experiences as a young man during the revolution to show the types of characters found in such upheavals, from cynics to idealists, while also showing how long-term strategic thought can be mistaken for cynicism when really it is the best way to resist.
July 11, 2011
Expressionism is a beautiful form that speaks to me. Sure my experience is limited to one film (Wim Wenders's "Wings of Desire" or "Der Himmel über Berlin"), works by American playwrights like Sophie Treadwell and Eugene O'Neill, and now one play by Ernst Toller, but still I find that I love it. "Transformation" or "Transfiguration" is devastating and hopeful. I don't know exactly why, but it's a play that--despite so many horrific parts of modern living--actually makes me want to believe in the potential of humanity. And the triumph of the human spirit does not come by blissful ignorance of problems and difficulties but rather through rallied recognition of said issues and an accompanying response of undaunted, stalwart determination. I know it's just a translation, but there is still a beauty that remains in the poetry of the work in English. Worth the afternoon it would take you to read if you can get a copy of it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews