The Wupper
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Else_Lasker-Sch%C3%BCler_-_Die_Wupper._Schauspiel_in_5_Aufz%C3%BCgen._Berlin%2C_Oesterheld_1909.jpg/220px-Else_Lasker-Sch%C3%BCler_-_Die_Wupper._Schauspiel_in_5_Aufz%C3%BCgen._Berlin%2C_Oesterheld_1909.jpg)
The Wupper is a text in an Expressionism zuzuordnendes drama in five acts of Else Lasker-Schüler . It was published in 1909 and premiered in Berlin in 1919 .
Its design language is diverse and idiosyncratic. The poet's first drama addresses social and religious contrasts in the industrial environment of the Wuppertal . There is no stringent plot development, rather scenes are strung together in a highlight-like and atmospherically condensed manner. The fate of members of the Sonntag entrepreneurial family and the Pius working-class family shows the lack of relationships and meaninglessness in life.
At the first performance after the war, in 1958 on the stages of the city of Cologne , staged by Hans Bauer and with the set by Teo Otto , there were furious protests. The Wupper was the second opening premiere in the Schauspielhaus Wuppertal , which opened in 1966 and was enthusiastically received. This performance was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen in 1967 and recorded for television by WDR . Looking back on this time, Teo Otto remarked: "It is to be hoped that this city [Wuppertal] will slowly understand which child of the stars was born within these walls."
literature
- Johannes Barth; Stefan Neumann (Ed.): On my heart's stage - 100 years of Else-Lasker-Schüler's drama Die Wupper Wuppertal: Arco 2012, ISBN 978-3-938375-34-1
Literature (audio book)
- Else Lasker-Schüler ; Heinz Dieter Koehler ; Brigitte Horney ; Irmgard Först ; Angelika Thomas ; Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln : Die Wupper radio play; Radio play production from 1978 Berlin Parlando 2008, ISBN 3-935125-92-5
- Johannes Jacobi: The suspension railway plays along. Wuppertal opens its new theater with Lessing and Lasker students . THE TIME September 30, 1966