Evening star., 1925-08-30
BERLIN TO OFFER
FEAST OF DRAMA
Theater Season, Soon to
Open, Has Blaze of Prom
Use, Rarely EquaIIed.
BY EDGAR ANSEL MOWRER.
,y Radio to The star and Chicago Daily News

by h3dio 10 Ihe star ana chicago Daily News
BERLIN, August 2S-The Berlin
theater season will open within a day
or two with a blaze OF promises rarely
equalled. Within few days not less
than eleven first performances will
be held, representing such authors as
Shakespeare, Pirandello and George
Kaiser. The first part of Shaw's
Back to Methuselah'' will soon be
given.
The three theaters of Max Reinhardt
unquestionably lead the others In the
richness of the banquet they offer
Shaw's You Never Can Tell Shake
speare's king Lear" Pirandello's s
Man, Beast and Virtue" Wedekind's s
mea," Galsworthy's "Loyalties," Som
erset Maugham's Victoria" and
Maugham's Rain" are on the list
along with several novelties by young
German writers.
The Prussian State Theater, under
Director Jessner, will open with Shaw's
Great Catherine" and Schiller
Maid of Orleans" The theater in
Koeniggreatzerstras opens with
Elizabeth Bergner in "As You Like
It." The popular Peoples Stage opens
with Hamlet" and will follow with
THE Merchant of Venice" Hebbell s
Judith" Grabbe's Duke of Goth
land and The Liberated Don Quix'
ote," by Lunatcharsky, the Russian
peoples commisSar.
The program of the Prussion state
operas is no less interesting, although
opera goers are traditionally more
conservative than drama lovers. Ber-
lin for the first time will hear Chalia-
pin in Prkofeiff's Love of Three
Oranges" and Busoni's Faust" Re
delio" and Johann Strauss "Gipsy
Baron" with Mozart's Don Gfovan-
ni'' and a Wagner cycle. The ballet
authors include Debussy and Bartock.
Futurist Period Over.
Speaking of new dramatic tenden-
cies, Director of State Theaters Jess
ner considers that in Germany the
radical futurist period of presentation
is over and that there has followed
an attempt at higher realism, in
which emphasis is laid more on words
with stress on the musical quality of
speech and rhythm in performance.
Today. according to Jessner, the
state and municipal theaters have an
immense advantage in the struggle
for artistic supremacy because the
managers are Independent and possess
perfectly chosen ensembles, which
avoids the evils OIL lle star SyStciH
THE theater," says Jessner, is
always the reflection of cotemporary
political life Hence today German
stage managers are artistically reac-
tionary."
Werner krauss. considered by many
the greatest living German actor, who
spent six months in the United States
playing in Reinhardts s Miracle has
the highest possible opinion of Amer
lea, He has refused offers to remain
in America, however, because he pre-
fers the spoken to the dumb drama
and his language is German. He be-
lieves that although Germany pos
sesses a few unrivaled players, the
general level of acting Is higher in the
United States than here. The intel
lectual level of American chorus girls
and small-part actors Is infinitely
higher. he thinks.
Krauss further prefers the Anglo
American tradition of restrained ex-
preston to the fuller, more f1orid
Latin and Oriental manner, which
fourishes here, but says that, unfor.
tunately. the quality of plays offered
the American public is unQuestionably
poorer Krauss will continue to be at
tached to the state theaters, playing
occasionally in the films.
Berlin is waiting with interest to see
what Manager Hartung, the daring
Cologne producer, will be able to ac-
conplish in the capital.
Copyright. 1925. by Chicago Daily News Co. J