Gas
I
by Georg Kaiser (1878-1945) is the second play in his expressionist trilogy—The Coral (1917), Gas I (1918) and Gas II
(1920). This trilogy covers seventy years of German history. The plays are
connected through a familial relationship between the protagonist of each play.
The Coral (Die Koralle) is
set in 1917. The protagonist is named the Billionaire and he represents the
capitalist prewar society that existed in Germany during Kaiser Wilhelm II’s
reign (1888-1918). The title of the play
refers to a piece of coral the Billionaire’s Secretary wears on his watch
chain. The Secretary is his boss’s
physical double and that creates the set-up for the action. The
Coral establishes the background for Gas
I and describes some of the conditions existing in societal and industrial Germany
leading up to World War One.
Gas
I (Gas erster Teil),
a play in five acts, is set “in the same country as that of The Coral.” It is immediately noticeable
that the environment controlled by the Billionaire’s generation has changed
from the one in The Coral. Act I is set in the Billionaire’s Son’s office
at his gas plant. “A vast square room, all in white. The rear wall is composed
entirely of glass in large squares.”
This style of architecture immediately invokes the “Modern Architecture
Movement in Germany.” It was initially designed for industrial structures. One
highly known example was the Fagus Factory (Fagoswerk)
designed by Walter Gropius (1883-1969) and built between 1911 to 1914.
The Billionaire’s Son
(sixty years old) still owns his father’s factories, but he has rebelled against
his father’s business practices. Billionaire’s Son divides all business profits
among the workers. He succeeded in improving the workers economic status as well
as creating a new source of power. The gas that his factory creates is used by
all the industries in the world. It has replaced the less efficient sources of coal
and water. The Daughter of Billionaire’s Son is being married to The Officer on
an upper floor above the office area. Following the wedding that is never seen
on stage, Billionaire’s Son gives The Daughter’s inheritance from her mother to
The Officer. Suddenly a devastating gas explosion is reported to Billionaire’s
Son by a naked, injured Workman, who dies upon delivering his message.
Billionaire’s Son laments “O man! O mankind!”
Act Two. It is seventeen
days after the explosion. The setting is the same office, but the glass window
area is concealed by a blind and a large drafting table is covered with
drawings. Most of the plant is leveled
to the ground. Three Workmen come to the office to demand the Engineer, who
created the formula for the gas, be fired. Billionaire’s Son does not agree
since he believes the formula was correct. Men leave with no resolution to
their request. Billionaire’s Son does not want to reconstruct the plant since
he envisions a utopian manner of living for the workers. When the Engineer arrives, he does not desire
to participate in Billionaire’s Son’s plan.
Act Three takes place in
an oval room with a round table covered with a green cloth. A green cloth on the
table symbolized wealth. The Officer enters in full military uniform and
reveals that he has gambled away all the money he received from Billionaire’s
Son. When his father-in-law will not help to pay his debts, the Officer leaves
the office. Five Gentlemen in Black arrive for their meeting. They try to persuade the Billionaire’s Son to
fire the Engineer since all their workmen are striking in sympathy with his gas
plant workers. When they cannot persuade Billionaire’s Son to their cause, they
tell him that they will request the government to intervene.
After the Gentlemen in
Black leave, the Officer returns in a state of great anxiety. He quickly leaves
the office with his pistol in hand and a shot is heard. The Billionaire’s Son
laments: “The world is out of joint—let others force it back again.”
Act Four is set in “A
great circular hall of concrete.” Workmen are assembled as well as many women.
Prior to Billionaire’s Son revealing his presence, there are speeches of lament
by the women and workmen. Billionaire’s Son presents his plan to improve the
lives of the workforce, but they do not accept his vision for the future. After
the Engineer arrives to confront Billionaire Son, the workers begin to side
with him.
GAS I, Act 4
Act Five is in front of a brick or concrete wall partly shattered and blackened by the explosion. An iron gate in the center of this wall is off its hinges. In a final attempt to have his way, Billionaire’s Son with a bandage around his head wants to talk with the workers, but a soldier with a rifle and fixed bayonet stops him. A representative of the government arrives and takes over the plant. Since Billionaire’s Son’s vision is not accepted by the Workers and his plan has failed, he laments about when will the ideal society be introduced by the next “new man.” Daughter concludes this drama when she tells him: “I will give him birth.”
Act Five is in front of a brick or concrete wall partly shattered and blackened by the explosion. An iron gate in the center of this wall is off its hinges. In a final attempt to have his way, Billionaire’s Son with a bandage around his head wants to talk with the workers, but a soldier with a rifle and fixed bayonet stops him. A representative of the government arrives and takes over the plant. Since Billionaire’s Son’s vision is not accepted by the Workers and his plan has failed, he laments about when will the ideal society be introduced by the next “new man.” Daughter concludes this drama when she tells him: “I will give him birth.”
The concept of the “new
man” is the philosophical ideal relating to the regeneration of man that
appears in many of Kaiser’s dramas. While his vision of what the new man
represented kept evolving, the regeneration of mankind was embedded in the
philosophy that supported the expressionist style.
Gas
I
opened on November 28, 1918 at two German theatres--the Neues Theater in
Frankfort and the Schauspielhaus in Dusseldorf.
It is notable that this play was produced in Germany seventeen days
after the signing of the armistice. It was translated into English and produced
in 1923 by England’s Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
The play premiered in the
United States on January 28, 1926 at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago. The American
production was staged by Marion Gering (1901-1977) who moved to the United
States from Russia in 1924. The Chicago
Tribune, on the day of the play’s opening, reported that Gering adapted a
translation by George Hexter. The play
was initially translated into English by Hermann Scheffauer (1876-1927). He was
born in the United States but resided in both England and Europe during World
War One. It was his translation that was presented in England. I read Scheffauer’s translation of Gas I as well as the later one by J. M.
Ritchie (1927-2013).
It was the “Gas” trilogy
of plays that established Georg Kaiser’s as one of two leaders of German
Expressionist plays. A title he shared
with Ernst Toller (1893-1939). Even though my recount of the plot of Gas I may leave an impression that the
play is moderately realistic in style it is not. It is expressionistic beyond the names of the
characters, who are designated by their functions in society or by an external
attribute. There are also various theories relating to the meaning of the
explosion at the gas plant and other symbolic events. I believe it is important
to read all three plays and consider them together in-order to determine one’s
interpretation of the meaning.
PHOTOS:
1. Georg Kaiser from Georg Kaiser by B. J. Kenworthy. Oxford: Basil Backwell, 1957.
2. Fagus Factory from Walter Gropius by S. Giedion.New York: Reinhold Publishing, 1954.
3. GAS I, Act 4 from Twenty-Five Modern Plays edited by S. Marion Tucker.
New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1948. Production photo from Stadttheater,
Amsterdam. (Das Theater, New York Public Library Theatre Collection.)
PHOTOS:
1. Georg Kaiser from Georg Kaiser by B. J. Kenworthy. Oxford: Basil Backwell, 1957.
2. Fagus Factory from Walter Gropius by S. Giedion.New York: Reinhold Publishing, 1954.
3. GAS I, Act 4 from Twenty-Five Modern Plays edited by S. Marion Tucker.
New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1948. Production photo from Stadttheater,
Amsterdam. (Das Theater, New York Public Library Theatre Collection.)
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