The house in Montevideo (Curt Goetz)
| Data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The house in Montevideo |
| Original title: | It's a gift |
| Genus: | comedy |
| Original language: | English German |
| Author: | Curt Goetz |
| Premiere: | March 12, 1945 |
| Place of premiere: | Playhouse Theater, New York |
The House in Montevideo or Traugotts Temptation is a comedy by Curt Goetz .
The first performance of the play took place under the English title It's a gift on March 12, 1945 in New York at the Playhouse Theater on Broadway with Goetz and his wife Valérie von Martens in the lead roles. The German-language premiere took place on October 31, 1946 at the Schauspielhaus Zurich , shortly after the Goetz couple returned to Europe from their American exile. The first performance in Germany took place in Berlin on December 27, 1950 . The theme of the play is morality, temptation and the reward of virtue.
action
The first and fourth acts of the comedy take place in an unspecified small German town, the second and third acts in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo .
1st act
In a small German town, respected by all the citizens, the extremely virtuous senior teacher Professor Doctor Traugott Hermann Nägler leads a happy life with his wife Marianne and their twelve children. Many years earlier, Nägler's virtue had led to his sister being expelled from the family because of an illegitimate pregnancy and emigrating to South America.
One day the pastor of the town brought the news of the death of the outcast sister to the Näglers and announced that an inheritance was planned for Atlanta, Traugott's eldest daughter. Even if Nägler initially categorically ruled out that his daughter could inherit, he was finally persuaded by the pastor, mayor and wife to travel to Montevideo with the pastor and Atlanta and to find out about the legacy on site.
2nd act
On site, the group enters the deceased's home, where they find many young girls. Due to ambiguous statements by the caretaker, combined with language-related communication problems, Traugott Nägler thinks the house is a brothel and leaves it furious with his daughter. The pastor, however, finally provides clarification through closer inquiries: The deceased had made a career as a singer under the stage name Maria Machado , had achieved world fame and had earned such wealth that she used the money to set up a foundation for single young girls and single mothers had launched in order to spare them a fate comparable to theirs. It turns out that Atlanta inherits several properties and that the will contains a clause stating that, should a “tragedy like mine” repeat itself “on the trustworthy flock of my virtuous brother, Professor Doctor Traugott Hermann Nägler”, should an illegitimate child be born in the professor's house, the mother of that child inherits a considerable fortune. This clause is limited to one year, if it is not fulfilled, the money goes to the Maria Machados Foundation.
3rd act
Without the knowledge of the tour group, Atlanta's fiancé Herbert traveled to Montevideo and now appears to finally ask for Atlanta's hand. Traugott Nägler's virtue wavers, he is torn between his conviction that an illegitimate child is a disgrace and the prospect of wealth and high expectations at home. Finally, the community hopes for generous donations from the inheritance. Nägler tries to get Herbert to impregnate his daughter first and then to marry her later with ambiguous hints (“You could also eat dessert before soup”). Herbert doesn't understand the implications, however, and finally Nägler becomes aware of the enormity he is asking of his daughter and his future son-in-law. He lets Herbert slap him in the face, promises him to take his application “into benevolent consideration” and decides to forego the inheritance and return to Germany with his daughter, pastor and Herbert.
4th act
Back in Germany, of course, there is great disappointment over the lost inheritance, but so too is the indignation over the monstrous condition of the will. Traugott's decision is accepted and, finally, marriage preparations are made for Atlanta and Herbert. The wedding is to take place on the ship Atlanta , on which Traugott and Marianne had already married and after which they named their eldest daughter. They were very disappointed when they found out that, according to current measurements, this ship is 27 centimeters too short to be considered a ship. The captain therefore does not have the right to marry. It turns out that for this reason all marriages ever concluded at Atlanta are invalid, including the marriage of Traugott and Marianne Nägler. The clause from the will is thus fulfilled: Marianne Nägler even gave birth to and raised twelve illegitimate children in Traugott's house and is therefore the heir to the property.
Emergence
The house in Montevideo is based on Goetz's 1924 one-act play Die Tote Tante , which the author expanded into a four-act play a good 20 years after its creation.
Film adaptations
The house in Montevideo was filmed twice: in 1951 under the direction of Curt Goetz and Valérie von Martens , who also played the leading roles ( Das Haus in Montevideo (1951) ) and twelve years later under the direction of Helmut Käutner with Heinz Rühmann and Ruth Leuwerik ( The house in Montevideo (1963) ).
literature
- Curt Goetz: All stage works. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt , Munich 1999, ISBN 978-3421013194 .
- Curt Goetz: The house in Montevideo. Hohenheim Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3898501583 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ filmportal.de ( Memento of the original from November 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Short biography of Curt Goetz on deutscher-tonfilm.de ( Memento from December 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ "Das Haus in Montevideo" from Felix Bloch Erben, accessed on April 30, 2019
- ↑ a b Verner Arpe: Knaurs Schauspielführer - A story of drama. Droemer, Knaur, Munich / Zurich / Stockholm. 1976. ISBN 3426233126
- ^ Curt Goetz: The house in Montevideo. Or Traugott's temptation. Hohenheim Verlag, 2007. ISBN 978-3898501583
- ↑ Description of the action of the entire piece
- ↑ Entry in the Kabel1 film lexicon
- ↑ Entry in the Kabel1 film lexicon
