2 S S
25. Pro Jor Bernbardi
HXTRACT FROM
EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS
18 Market Street, Edinburgh
25. JIN 1336
1A Play About Jew-Baiting
The best play 1 have seen on the
London stage recently is one by the
famous Austrian dramatist, Arthur
Schnitzler. The title is" Professor
Bernhardi,“ and it is about a Jewish
doctor who forbids a Catholic priest to
bring the last rites of the Church to a
dying gir.. The girl imagines she is
getting better, and is happy. The doctor
wishes her to have her brief hours of
bliss, and fears that the visit of the
priest will have instantly fatal results.
Both are right within their own spheres,
gas they see the light. A nice problem
of duty, which could Lave been cleared
up if both parties had tried to under¬
stand the other’s position. But then
there would have been no drama. So
the doctor is adamant, and is charged
#the priest with being arrogant, perhaps
The priest is
berause ue is a Jew.
sincerely shocked that the child should
be allowed to die“ in sin.?
Out of this incident arises an anti¬
Jewish agitation, questions in Parlia¬
ment (in the days before Austrian
Ministers put themselves outside that
troublesome ordeal of democracy), and
all sorts of political consequences. There
is also high argument about ends and
the means to ends. It is an absorbing
drama, played throughout on an intel¬
ligent plane, and therefore first-rate
entertainment. I have never understcod
why a play which is silly and about
scething that does not matter should
be the only stuff of which Tentertainment
value“ is made.
Wandering Scot
asadan dmmnemomcmmemeeneeee
box 31/5
S
EXTHACT FROM
R0
JUIV 1
Date
—
As an exereise in dialectie Schnitzler’s Professor
Bernhardi (Phcenix), is all that-Could be Wished for.
The conflict of ideas between a Roman Catholic priest
and an agnostie Jewish doctor who prevents him from
administering the last oflices of religion to a dying
patient is the theme of this intellectually stimulating
play. Ou the lower plane, there is also a conflict of
what might be called vested interests as represented by
the staff of the elinie whose carcers are placed in jeopardy
by the andacious affront offered by their chief to Vien¬
nese decorum. The play is mostly talk, but it is such
extremely good talk that one does not tire of it. As the
obstructive Doctor Bernhardi, Mr. Abraham Sofaer
combines charming manners with pitiless logie; while
Ronald Adam's Minister of Education is a devastating
pieture oiche professional politician.
25. Pro Jor Bernbardi
HXTRACT FROM
EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS
18 Market Street, Edinburgh
25. JIN 1336
1A Play About Jew-Baiting
The best play 1 have seen on the
London stage recently is one by the
famous Austrian dramatist, Arthur
Schnitzler. The title is" Professor
Bernhardi,“ and it is about a Jewish
doctor who forbids a Catholic priest to
bring the last rites of the Church to a
dying gir.. The girl imagines she is
getting better, and is happy. The doctor
wishes her to have her brief hours of
bliss, and fears that the visit of the
priest will have instantly fatal results.
Both are right within their own spheres,
gas they see the light. A nice problem
of duty, which could Lave been cleared
up if both parties had tried to under¬
stand the other’s position. But then
there would have been no drama. So
the doctor is adamant, and is charged
#the priest with being arrogant, perhaps
The priest is
berause ue is a Jew.
sincerely shocked that the child should
be allowed to die“ in sin.?
Out of this incident arises an anti¬
Jewish agitation, questions in Parlia¬
ment (in the days before Austrian
Ministers put themselves outside that
troublesome ordeal of democracy), and
all sorts of political consequences. There
is also high argument about ends and
the means to ends. It is an absorbing
drama, played throughout on an intel¬
ligent plane, and therefore first-rate
entertainment. I have never understcod
why a play which is silly and about
scething that does not matter should
be the only stuff of which Tentertainment
value“ is made.
Wandering Scot
asadan dmmnemomcmmemeeneeee
box 31/5
S
EXTHACT FROM
R0
JUIV 1
Date
—
As an exereise in dialectie Schnitzler’s Professor
Bernhardi (Phcenix), is all that-Could be Wished for.
The conflict of ideas between a Roman Catholic priest
and an agnostie Jewish doctor who prevents him from
administering the last oflices of religion to a dying
patient is the theme of this intellectually stimulating
play. Ou the lower plane, there is also a conflict of
what might be called vested interests as represented by
the staff of the elinie whose carcers are placed in jeopardy
by the andacious affront offered by their chief to Vien¬
nese decorum. The play is mostly talk, but it is such
extremely good talk that one does not tire of it. As the
obstructive Doctor Bernhardi, Mr. Abraham Sofaer
combines charming manners with pitiless logie; while
Ronald Adam's Minister of Education is a devastating
pieture oiche professional politician.