Night lighting (Curt Goetz)

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Data
Title: Night lighting
Genus: comedy
Original language: German
Author: Curt Goetz
Premiere: December 1st , 1918
February 2nd , 1919
Place of premiere: German Art Theater, Berlin

Night lighting is a collection of five comedic one-act plays by Curt Goetz . The first one-act play in the collection gave its name to the entire collection.

  1. World premiere: on December 9, 1918 in Berlin at the Deutsches Künstlertheater (original version, 3 grotesques)
  2. World premiere: on February 14, 1919 in Berlin at the Deutsches Künstlertheater (new version, 5 grotesques)

Playing time: approx. 2 hours

Night lighting

Place and time of the action: the nightly stairwell in front of the actor Elfzenthal's apartment, sometime after 1900

people

  • The theater director
  • The poet
  • The actor
  • The stranger

action

A dispute between the actor Elfzenthal, his theater director and the theater's poet takes place in the nightly stairwell, because Elfzenthal was unfortunately unable to pay for the electricity. That's why the light doesn't work in the apartment. So chairs and a table are placed on the landing because there is night lighting in the stairwell. So the light goes out every few minutes during this one-act play.

There is disagreement about a scene in the theatrical poet's new play: can a person who has just shot himself a bullet in the head still utter a nice, long monologue? This is exactly what the poet wrote, this is exactly what the theater director demands - and this is exactly what Elfzenthal, who is supposed to play this role, refuses to do. If you want to say your last words to the world, he explains, it makes sense to do so before pulling the trigger. He also knows a counterexample: a former colleague who shot himself in his presence and then had no opportunity for a monologue.

The director lacks arguments. "Then", he stated opinionated, "he just died wrongly!"

What more can one say against such a sentence? The actor angrily disappears into his apartment. The director and the poet are two in the hall when the lights go out. And the three of them when it comes back on: a strange young man is sitting at the table, smiling harmlessly. After just a few sentences, the two remaining people realize that in front of them is that suicide. He would like to take lessons from the principal, he says sarcastically, on how to die properly. The statement that he “died wrongly” was not nice; not even the newspaper would his departure panned .

The lights go out, Elfzenthal comes back - he has surrendered to his fate. He wants to speak the monologue. Without a transition, the director confronts him with a new decision: "What I said from the beginning: the monologue is gone!"

Lohengrin

Place and time of the action: an office room somewhere in Germany sometime after 1900.

people

  • The one companion (Robert)
  • The other partner (Jacob)
  • The Medical Council (Biedermann)
  • The servant

action

The mood in the private office of the two merchants Jacob and Robert is depressed : They are broke. Your company, which was thriving until recently, is ruined by bad speculation and the bankruptcy of a business partner. Nobody is aware of any of this, because the outbreak of war means that the chief accountant, who has just been abroad, is unable to return. But the huge amount of money that the company would have to borrow to get back on its feet, the bank and business partners would suspect. They can hold out and enjoy their irreproachable reputation for only a week if a miracle does not occur.

The miracle approaches in the form of Mr. Biedermann. It is amazing what this man knows: the names of the lovers, the victories of the racehorse and of course that there is no money in the safe. Because Mr. Biedermann is not only a gentleman, but also a burglar. He found out the habits of the two merchants in order to guess the safe combination - and studied the books when he couldn't find any money. Mr. Biedermann is thus well informed.

How does he get his money now? Because he had expenses, and he does not want to forego his profit either. So he's going to get hired as the new chief accountant and be gone in a week with the company's money. At least that's what the bank will hear, which of course will stand by the well-reputed company in this emergency. The company can continue to exist, the company's business partners will not be ruined by any bankruptcy, and after a while Mr. Biedermann will collect his commission. Everyone is helped, no one is harmed. Mr. Biedermann, the burglar, becomes a radiant hero: "If you were wearing gold armor, I would believe you are ' sent here by the Grail ' and your swan is waiting outside!"

Tobby

Place and time of the action: A breakfast room in an English manor sometime after 1900.

people

  • Harry - the Lord
  • Fanny - the woman
  • Bobby - the friend
  • Tobby - the servant
  • Mary - the maid

action

Harry leads a paradisiacal life: he calls a rich good his own, his servants are loyal to him, he has a beautiful, lovely wife and a good friend who is his guest for some time. What more could a person ask for?

Harry doesn't ask for more. But Bobby, the friend: he is courting Fanny, Harry's beautiful wife. Successful, as Tobby the servant finds out. It is difficult for him, but loyalty to his master wins: he informs his master, which leads to his immediate resignation. And he should say goodbye to Bobby and Fanny before he leaves.

The planned joint ride for Harry, Fanny and Bobby is stopped by Fanny's migraine attack . Bobby decides to stay home just to be on the safe side. Harry rides alone. A good opportunity for Fanny and Bobby to increase their mutual advances a little - until Tobby enters the room and says goodbye. Why does he have to go? Tobby says it as instructed.

Fanny is flabbergasted. Now it's time to draw conclusions and flee with Bobby. But Bobby is not really enthusiastic: An adventure with oaths of love becomes serious. The madam gives orders to let go. It 's already tense. Harry had ordered it before he rode out. The two adulterers flee, they are naive and nervous, he stubborn. When Harry comes back the house is already empty.

Tobby says goodbye to his master. He still receives his certificate and the invitation to apply for the vacant position the next morning. With a raise. And bring his certificates with him.

Minna Magdalena

Place and time of the action: the living room with professors. Germany, sometime shortly after 1900.

people

  • The woman professor
  • The professor
  • Martin Sack
  • Minna

action

Mr and Mrs Professor are stunned: they had specially found an innocent country maid. The professor had spoken to her so vividly about the dangers of the city that Minna collapsed at the kitchen table, crying in excitement, and swore she would never, ever ... Until Franz, the neighbor's boy, “got weird”. And now Minna is constantly passing out. Frau Professor had sent Minna to the doctor about this, and he wanted to give Frau Professor the results of the examination in writing.

The case is clear, Minna's father must be informed. He travels from his village, full of anger at his failed daughter. The intimidated Minna not only has to answer questions from Mr and Mrs Professor, but also to her irascible father, whose outbursts of anger the Professor tries unsuccessfully to soften. Because the shameful behavior of his child rubs off on the decent family of professors! And the stupid, completely intimidated girl only admits that Franz would have given her a kiss. That can't have been all! You won't have a child from that, will you?

Minna is confused. Is she having a child? She didn't know anything about it yet! When she said that Franz had "gotten strange", she meant that Franz stole a kiss from her when she passed out in his presence.

An "immaculate conception" is rather unlikely. But where did Minna's constant fainting come from? What does the announcement mean that the doctor would give the result of his examination in writing? Where is this letter actually?

In the hand of the professor, who has been waving it all the time. According to the doctor's diagnosis, Minna is extremely nervous and therefore constantly faints. All excitement should be kept away from her.

The flying privy councilor

Place and time of the action: a comfortable treatment room at the laryngologist . Germany around 1900.

people

  • The privy councilor
  • The privy councilor's wife
  • A shy young man
  • Mr. Mors

action

The privy councilor is a doctor. And a damn bad one at that. It's amazing how many of his patients die. However, we have the opportunity to watch him at work, making misdiagnoses, and we are much less surprised.

But one day a man comes into the practice who complains of a catarrh throat ; one that has existed for centuries. Because this patient is death, and he wants to take the privy councilor, one of his best collaborators, with him: his time is up. It's a shame, actually, thinks death. So he is very happy to enter into a deal proposed by the terrified Privy Councilor: he will stay alive as long as he does not close his practice.

And, as he tells his wife, he will definitely never do that.

Emergence

The five grotesques in this collection were created in 1918 and 1919 while Curt Goetz was an actor at the Lessing Theater in Berlin. He wanted to play his own pieces. However, director Victor Barnowsky only agreed to a performance after Goetz signed an engagement at the Royal Theater. Barnowsky had given Goetz permission to sign, as he said in the second volume of his memoir, because he believed in a trick: shortly before that, Goetz had pushed through a significant fee increase because Barnowsky mistakenly believed that Max Reinhardt would be interested in Goetz.

The end of the German Empire in 1918 and the renaming of the “Königlichen” to the “Staatliche Schauspielhaus” with a simultaneous change of artistic director helped to terminate the contract after Barnowsky had agreed to perform the one-act play. However, he demonstratively had another piece rehearsed at the same time to make it clear that he believed that the pieces would fail.

There was no failure: it was performed 150 times in the first season.

The one-act Minna Magdalena , which can be found in this collection, became so successful that Goetz used it at times as a replacement for the initially less successful one-act The Hahn im Korb in his subsequent collection of one-act Menagerie from 1919. Minna Magdalena , together with the one-act play Die tote Tante from his collection of one-act plays from 1924, also served as the basis for the highly successful comedy Das Haus in Montevideo .

The director Barnowsky, already mentioned, served as a model for the character of the theater director in the one-act night lighting . According to Curt Goetz's memoir, however, he did not recognize himself.

Night lighting was the author's first stage work to be brought to the stage. His comedy Der Lampenschirm , written in 1911, was not staged until 1925.

Night lighting was first relocated in 1921. Goetz dedicated it to his friend and first sponsor Peter E. Erichson .

literature

  • Curt Goetz: All stage works. Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart 1987. ISBN 3-421-01319-5
  • Valerie von Martens-Goetz: The transformation of Peterhans von Binningen. German publishing house, Stuttgart 1962.

Web links