25. ProfessenBernhand
At the Theatre
Or
T
PPoRe
By PHILIP
ONLY one play was produced in dramatic construction, suspense, love¬
interest (of which there is none), and
London last week, but it was
tense situation.
of extraordinary and outstanding
O
interest.
I would hesitate to call“ Professor UXCEPT:for a vivid opening scene,
Bernhardi,? translated bv Louis + it is largely a discussion, afterthe
Borell and Ronald Adam from the manner of some ofthe Shaw plays, yet
original of Arthur Schnitzler, a good without a trace of Shavianism.
play in the conventional sense of But the discussion is so closely-knit,
box 3175
SOIEI
SE•
PAGE
so subtle, and so flavoured with irony, rather wordy d
that it more than compensates for the
Tet
velopment.
lack of the normal attributes of
there is not a word
theatrical entertainment. For, in spite
too much.
of this somewhat formidable descrip¬
The victory?
tion, here is an entertainment of a very
That appears to go
high order indeed.
to
doctor,
partly because
O
Rationalism will
nearly always win
TACT in a play is a negative virtue.
if the case is pro¬
Net 1 could not imagine a Jew v.
perly put, and
Roman Catholic controversy carried
also because of
on with the scales of justice so evenly
held.
the magnificently
persuasive per¬
The political as opposed to the reli¬
formance of Mr.
gious entanglements are possibly of
Abraham Sofaer.
more interest in the land of the play's
On the other
birth, Austria, than they are here. Yet
hand, the dice are
they are arranged with such intrinsic
value as theatrical dialogue that they
not loaded against
are worth listening to, and never cease
clericalism; one
can see the point
to be an essential part, of one of ver
mostumtellectühprötobätfe-plags
1 have seen for a long time.
priest— Mr. Ber. PRIEST- o.-FRO
nard Meredith—
another good per¬
O
formance—and of those who uphold it,
THE simple episode on whlich this
and one can sympathise with them.
conflict between Jewish science
and Christian clericalism has been
O
based is that a brilliant doctor, a Jew,
IHERE is only one female character
has under his care a woman whlo is
in" Professor Bernhardi“: the
dying. She does not know that she
minor one of a hospital nurse.
is dring; but she will know if the
The Embassy Theatre, which has
priest (she is a Roman Catholic) visits
many good plays to its credit, has
her, and her last moments would prob¬
never produced one so likely to pro¬
ably be filled with the terror of death,
mote the sanest and best type of dis¬
of which she is at the moment bliss¬
cussion. If it reaches a West-End##
fully unconscious. So he forbids the
theatre and stays there for any length
priest access, not for anti-clerical
of time, high marks should be awarded
Preasons but because it appears to him
to West-End audiences. I trust they
both a rational and a humane
will be.
thing to do.
O
AA
THISstraightforward ineident starts
the very deuce of a row, and the
remainder of the play is devoted to its
At the Theatre
Or
T
PPoRe
By PHILIP
ONLY one play was produced in dramatic construction, suspense, love¬
interest (of which there is none), and
London last week, but it was
tense situation.
of extraordinary and outstanding
O
interest.
I would hesitate to call“ Professor UXCEPT:for a vivid opening scene,
Bernhardi,? translated bv Louis + it is largely a discussion, afterthe
Borell and Ronald Adam from the manner of some ofthe Shaw plays, yet
original of Arthur Schnitzler, a good without a trace of Shavianism.
play in the conventional sense of But the discussion is so closely-knit,
box 3175
SOIEI
SE•
PAGE
so subtle, and so flavoured with irony, rather wordy d
that it more than compensates for the
Tet
velopment.
lack of the normal attributes of
there is not a word
theatrical entertainment. For, in spite
too much.
of this somewhat formidable descrip¬
The victory?
tion, here is an entertainment of a very
That appears to go
high order indeed.
to
doctor,
partly because
O
Rationalism will
nearly always win
TACT in a play is a negative virtue.
if the case is pro¬
Net 1 could not imagine a Jew v.
perly put, and
Roman Catholic controversy carried
also because of
on with the scales of justice so evenly
held.
the magnificently
persuasive per¬
The political as opposed to the reli¬
formance of Mr.
gious entanglements are possibly of
Abraham Sofaer.
more interest in the land of the play's
On the other
birth, Austria, than they are here. Yet
hand, the dice are
they are arranged with such intrinsic
value as theatrical dialogue that they
not loaded against
are worth listening to, and never cease
clericalism; one
can see the point
to be an essential part, of one of ver
mostumtellectühprötobätfe-plags
1 have seen for a long time.
priest— Mr. Ber. PRIEST- o.-FRO
nard Meredith—
another good per¬
O
formance—and of those who uphold it,
THE simple episode on whlich this
and one can sympathise with them.
conflict between Jewish science
and Christian clericalism has been
O
based is that a brilliant doctor, a Jew,
IHERE is only one female character
has under his care a woman whlo is
in" Professor Bernhardi“: the
dying. She does not know that she
minor one of a hospital nurse.
is dring; but she will know if the
The Embassy Theatre, which has
priest (she is a Roman Catholic) visits
many good plays to its credit, has
her, and her last moments would prob¬
never produced one so likely to pro¬
ably be filled with the terror of death,
mote the sanest and best type of dis¬
of which she is at the moment bliss¬
cussion. If it reaches a West-End##
fully unconscious. So he forbids the
theatre and stays there for any length
priest access, not for anti-clerical
of time, high marks should be awarded
Preasons but because it appears to him
to West-End audiences. I trust they
both a rational and a humane
will be.
thing to do.
O
AA
THISstraightforward ineident starts
the very deuce of a row, and the
remainder of the play is devoted to its