143. A Dramaturgical Study

Dramaturgical studies of individual outstanding stage artists are decidedly of the greatest use both to members of the acting profession and to theater critics. And the theater audience will also be interested in them. Our views on the art of the stage only come to life when they are enriched by a concrete study of the individual performer, his particular characteristics, his means and the way he uses them. Such a study has recently been published: "Friedrich Haase", a dramaturgical study by Otto Simon (Berlin, Verlag Alexander Duncker, 1898). In every respect, it offers a distorted picture of what can be expected from such a work. A certain superiority of vision, which is necessary to characterize the degree of artistry of the individual performer, is completely absent here. On the other hand, there is a boundless praise and unconditional adoration of the actor described, which makes the author of the book blind and inaccessible to any critical point of view. The booklet is written as if it were about the greatest German actor.

And one requirement has not been met. The author of such a work must have the ability to keenly observe the peculiar way in which the stage artist shapes his roles, the special means he uses to make his intentions obvious. And he must also have the ability to describe this peculiarity in a precise, unambiguous way. Otto Simon has neither. He talks about the character of the artist he is describing in general, vague, unclear terms, which at best characterize the somewhat hazy thoughts that went through the author's mind when he played Friedrich Haase, but reveal absolutely nothing about the way in which the artist expressed his intentions in a meaningful, theatrically effective way. Despite many words, Haase's acting physiognomy does not emerge clearly anywhere.

A few examples will make it clear. What do we gain from the fact that we are told of Haase's Hamlet: "To Mr. Haase, the basic idea in the figure of the Danish prince appears to be religious (Christian) conscientiousness in conflict with the demands which external existence and honour (the vivid consciousness of his future profession as ruler) make on a man who is more at home in the world of ideals than in reality. The idea of Hamlet is -- in Mr. Haase's opinion -- a higher one than that of the mere witty pomposity, aesthetic over-stimulation and characterless weakness of the modern age - qualities which were as yet foreign to the age of Shakespeare." Of Duke Alba it is said: "In Haase's portrayal we see the iron duke fully embodied, a lean, tall, elastic figure, tautly soldierly and yet with a knightly bearing, consolidated in himself by royal authority and his own willpower, a highly significant head with a powerful forehead of thought, sometimes cold, fixed, sometimes demonically glowing eye stars, the characteristic long, narrow alba beard, dressed in dark, albeit expensively decorated Spanish costume, the long spider legs, as the cheeky mocker Vansen says, in dark riding boots reaching up to the body: thus we see in Haase's Alba the famous Spanish general before us, all concentrated strength, determination, indomitability according to his own and yet only the king's will."

It cannot be denied that in this characterization an attempt is made to describe how the artist sought to present his intentions to the eye. However, there is no trace of such an attempt in the description of the Thorane role. "Haase's mastery as Thorane lies mainly in the fact that he knows how to fuse such opposing qualities and habits as the tendency to melancholy reverie and easily aroused national sentiment, enthusiastic love of the fine arts and military firmness, shyness of women and chivalrous nobility where he comes into contact with them, into a unified image, and that he also gives this figure the finest polish and the characteristic tone of the old French aristocracy." This is a portrayal of the character of Count Thorane, not a characterization of Friedrich Haase's acting style.

What is usually a shortcoming in similar works can also be seen here: the main emphasis is not placed on the specifics of the art of acting; indeed, the author lacks the ability to separate what constitutes the essence of this art from the overall stage picture.