119.“Pharisees”

Comedy in three acts by Clara Viebig
Review on the occasion of the premiere in Bremen

Clara Viebig has created a real contemporary drama with her "Pharisees". Everything in it is contemporary. The characters have certainly grown out of the social milieu of the present; the subject matter with its harrowing conflicts is taken in this form entirely from life, which belongs to the dying cultural currents of the present; and the author's artistic sensibility and manner of representation is just as contemporary, combining the finest feeling for dramatic movement with a penetrating gift of observation, and a stylish talent for composition with sharp, realistic characterization of the characters and events.

This proud lady of the manor, brutal to all finer and natural feelings, yet bigoted and rigid in form, is a creature who shows reality in every move; her husband, the weakling, presents us with the true representative of a class approaching decay, a social class rotten in the foundations of the soul. Next to the two is a daughter, one of those creatures who have found truth and nobility of heart out of themselves in the midst of a fundamentally corrupt environment, who show that what is dying out of itself always creates seeds for the future. Opposite the three of them is Inspector Hobrecht, a capable, ambitious man, an honest, capable nature in the most beautiful sense. He manages the estate of the lazy, incompetent breadwinner, but he doesn't go to church. The landowner is extremely happy to have this excellent man on his estate. For if it were up to him alone, he would be too lazy to look for a new personality. But his wife. How can she tolerate a good, capable man on her estate who doesn't go to church! The daughter, however, wholeheartedly reciprocates the love that this man shows her. And as certain as it seems to both of them that the moment when the girl's parents find out about their love affair will also be the moment when they will try to destroy it with all their might, it is just as certain to them that they will never let themselves be separated. The great power of Clara Viebig's characterization comes to us in an old woman who "enjoys" the bread of mercy in the landowner's house. She used to be a housekeeper and is called "Aunt Fritzchen". She is blind, hard of hearing, God-fearing and superstitious. The little room she has been given is unhealthy. The pigsties are close by and the rats are daily guests of the old woman, who is thus rewarded for the faithful service she once rendered in her masters' house. The daughter of the house always tells the good woman the content of the sermon. The mistress, too, when she has a touch of particular generosity and kindness, allows herself to go into the dreadful little room and speak a few "kind" words to the old woman. This reign pretends to be "in the fear of the Lord". This old woman is painted with large, incredibly expressive colors and strokes. Her superstition brings the solution to the conflict. One always hears something at night, something sinister in the house, and "Aunt Fritzchen" cannot interpret this in any other way than that the "evil one" is up to mischief. The pious landowner's wife then calls in her friend of the house, the daft Pastor Hobrecht, to deal with the evil. But it turns out that the daughter of the house has a nightly encounter with the man of her heart. This nocturnal conjuring up of "evil" cost Aunt Fritzchen her life. She dies under the impression the event makes on her. This death scene has a profound effect and is poignantly true. For the hypocritical landowners, there is only one thing to do: cure the daughter of her delusion and avoid the scandal. To this end, the second daughter and her husband, the district administrator Dr. Wiegart, are summoned. This is the "right" man, who knows practical life, who knows how to protect professional honor and suppress anything that could cause public offense. He immediately finds what is right. The mad lover is put off with money; the mistress is made to believe that the man wanted nothing more than to take her into his bargain in order to acquire her property, and that he would let himself buy the fair beloved for a pittance. - And should the relationship have any consequences: well, the "Herr Landrat" is in the process of founding a foundling home in which many children of various origins can be accommodated. The landowner's household immediately agrees that his reputation and "honor" can be saved by this "clever" idea of Mr. Landrat; but the liar usually forgets one thing, that there are people for whom the truth is still something. And the honest administrator proves to be just as steadfast in his rejection of any Judas reward as his beloved is in her belief in his truthfulness and honor.

In a deeply moving way, the drama concludes with the two people finding their way out of hypocrisy and prejudice. The drama has the merit of true dramatic works of art: it bears the stamp of performability in every scene. It rises high above most contemporary dramatic productions. In Bremen it has now passed the acid test. Whether it will still be performed in Berlin and other major theaters this season will probably depend on whether there are theater directors who have the necessary initiative to say "yes" to a drama on their own initiative. Perhaps this requires a little more than knowing that authors who have previously "pulled" will continue to do so. But without such additional knowledge, our current state of theater will not be replaced by a new one, albeit a very desirable one.