82. “The Owl”

Drama in one act by Gabriel Finne

“Lumpenbagasch”

Play by Paul Ernst
Performance by the Berlin Dramatic Society

Gabriel Finne's one-act play "The Owl", which was performed by the Dramatische Gesellschaft on March 27, draws rare, enigmatic moods of the soul with bold strokes. The plot is simple, almost everyday. A man has seduced his friend's wife and destroyed her happiness. The adulterer has also wreaked havoc in his own home. Because his kind, sweet wife is deeply troubled by her husband's infidelity. If such a story happened to ordinary everyday people, it would be of little interest. But here the seducer is a nature whose experiences are transformed into the most terrible confusions of the soul. The memories of sins committed are transformed into evil spirits in his delusional fantasy. The hallucinations of a man suffering from his guilt become dramatically figurative.

In the first part of his drama, Finne prepares us for the end in dramatic conversations full of the finest nuances of color. The delusion of the betrayed friend appears as the sinner's persecutor in the flesh. The mysterious owl calls in the lonely fjord regions have spoken to his conscience and transformed themselves into the avenging voice of the friend, who steps before him and will not rest until the criminal of friendship has himself put an end to his cursed existence.

The masterfully staged performance must have made a deep impression on the audience. Eduard von Winterstein portrayed the sinner torturing himself to death with all the power of his effective art and Elise Steinert excellently portrayed his wife in her subtle, often ingenious manner.

No less interesting was the short drama "Lumpenbagasch" by Paul Ernst, which followed on from "Eule". Rag milieu, rag mentality, rag fate cannot easily be brought to the stage more naturalistically than Ernst has done. Luise Kramer is an amiable, naïve village girl who follows her nature, which is precisely why she gives birth to an illegitimate child every now and then. The village mayor is a man concerned with the welfare of his community. Why shouldn't he couple the poor Kramer to the drunken rag Arendt, who can be happy if the community gives him twenty thalers for taking the mother of five to his home in the poorhouse, which consists of a worry chair. But to let the twenty thalers flow to the neighboring town where Arendt lives: the brave village mayor is not that stupid. The village tailor is to make the bridegroom a fine wedding suit for the aforementioned thalers, so that the money remains in the community. Under such circumstances, however, it seems better for the bride and groom to continue to provide for the procreation of mankind without the blessing of the village schoolmaster.

Paul Ernst proved to be an excellent characterizer. The village poor with many children, the alcoholic Arendt, who honestly fulfilled his military duties in 1870, the village schoolmaster and the tailor who takes care of the wedding decorations are all well drawn. Emma Sydow as the village pauper, Max Reinhardt as the schoolteacher, Seldeneck as the town pauper, drunkard and forced bridegroom all made notable contributions.