62. “The New Woman”

Comedy in four acts by Rudolf Stratz
Performance at the Königliches Schauspielhaus, Berlin

Erna Textor acts as the "new woman" for as long as she can remember, Greek and Latin phrases bubble from her lips and, in order to study chemistry, commercial and exchange law, she has moved to a small university town in southern Germany. She has inherited an aniline factory from her father and not only wants to be able to keep an eye on the chemists who work in her factory, but also to collect the money she earns from aniline production with understanding. She defends the equal rights of men and women with insight and almost feminine eloquence. She demands admission to the lecture halls from a college consisting of pedantic, narrow-minded professors of comedy and is unhappy that the youngest, smartest professor, who even appears in a lieutenant's uniform, is the fiercest opponent of her admission to university studies. She has been betrothed by her father, who is of course dead at the beginning of the play, to a boring man called Matthias Leineweber, just to be unsympathetic enough. None of this concerns us. For we know as soon as the first words have been spoken that Erna will no longer be the "new woman" at the end of the play, but will sink into the arms of the professor in the officer's uniform, who closes the gates of the university to her, as a bride. However, Rudolf Stratz is not allowed to tell us this as soon as the curtain rises. Otherwise there would be no comedy. But he must hint at it. That is what dramatic technique demands. The fact that we see through these hints from the outset is probably due to our naivety. We are so inclined to assume that comedies end with marriages. Why should Rudolf Stratz, of all people, depart from this custom? Between the events that make up the main plot, students drink beer, sing songs, go to the cramming floor and skip classes. In German comedies, the students naturally drink, play truant and cram even more than in reality. This is the result of the cursed idealism in art, which wants to put everything in an ideal light. In the time that Erna Textor doesn't fill with clever speeches and the students don't fill with drinking beer, professors' wives talk stupid things. An eminent private scholar drinks so much wine that he takes an overcoat for a man, and his wife hides his boots so that he can't go to the pub. Also, a young lady with backfish manners, who is a dentist by profession, teaches a daft student about the ideals of life and the benefits of work.

Excellent actors play in the "comedy". Miss Poppe makes the impossible role of Erna almost possible; Mr. Keßler plays the professor in his officer's uniform to perfection. Mr. Vollmer portrays the private scholar and drunkard with such art that we forget the character created by Stratz, and Mrs. Conrad as the dentist cannot be praised enough. The "Lustspiel" is a runaway hit, but because of the excellent performance, once you have gotten into it, you have to see it through to the end.