114. “Die Lumpen”" comedy by Leo Hirschfeld

Performance at the Lessing Theater, Berlin

Leo Hirschfeld has made the fate of a dramatic poet the subject of a comedy. It must be admitted that the task he has set himself is as interesting as its satisfying realization is difficult. Heinrich Ritter begins as an idealist. He does not want to obey any demands other than those of art. As long as he keeps his ideals within a circle of coffee house brethren, he can preserve them. As soon as he steps out of this circle, a gentle breeze blows them away. Ritter has just completed a drama. One of the coffeehouse brothers thinks the ending is particularly great. That's something completely new. Others have done it before. But this ending!!! The editor of the Tagespost, Dr. Ottomar Mark, is a powerful man. He has influence over the management of the Residenztheater. With his help, Ritter hopes to bring the play to the stage. But this editor has a different artistic attitude to the coffee house brothers. He finds the ending impossible, everything else excellent. He wants to stand up for the play if Ritter cuts the ending. The brave poet, who wrote the play because of this ending, is initially reluctant. But when Mathilde Halm, the hopeful member of the Residenztheater, makes it clear to him that he should give in first in order to get to the top, he also gives in. Later, when he reaches the top, he will also have the power to realize his ideals. The great success comes. The "poet" reaches the top. But the ideals also go to hell. You have to keep the power you have gained. You can only do that if you continue to be at the will of the public. - Ritter's "artistic" idealism also threatened to undermine his bourgeois position. His family regarded him as a disgrace. He could gain a lucrative position through his uncle, the court lawyer Dr. Vinzenz Lechner. He is even offered the hand of his cousin. As long as he is an "idealist", he rejects everything that comes from this bourgeois side. Once he is on top, he wins the uncle's respect as well as the cousin's hand. - A lot could be done artificially with this problem. Imagine the coffee house circle in which Ritter lives, consisting of truly idealistic people, and imagine that Leo Hirschfeld had portrayed his hero as thoroughly idealistic but weak-minded, and motivated his case psychologically. The pain of the idealistic friends over the fallen man could give the whole plot a highly sympathetic background. But there is none of this to be found in this comedy. The coffee house brothers are stultified individuals. Their judgment of Ritter's talent leaves us cold. We do not know what is real about any of these people. Just as little as we know what is in Ritter himself and what is perishing. The development from idealist to flatterer of the public appears to be characterized in an entirely external way. The friends show no particular pain, but drink the good cognac that Ritter, as a wealthy man, can afford with relish. Yes, if the plot, which is insignificant in itself, were elevated by a particularly humorous portrayal! Then one would forget the "what" above the "how". But there can be no question of that either. Hirschfeld actually offends our aesthetic sensibilities in that as a dramatist he adopts a position towards the audience and art to which his hero sinks. Everything in comedy is calculated for effect. The development of a character is nothing, the momentary theatrical wit is everything.

The performance was entirely in keeping with this quality of comedy. Only Ferdinand Bonn tried to turn Heinrich Ritter into a real person. The character he gave is not that of the poet at all, but a much more elevated one. Josef Jarno struck a better tone, underlining every joke, playing in the style of a buffoon, and thus actually hitting the style of the play. All the worse for the comedy.