The play was directly influenced by world war i 19141918, but many of the problems it addresses are still pressing issues today. Bernard diebold 18861945 a swiss theatre critic, in his book anarchy in drama 1921, states that gas ii. Georg kaiser s 18781945 gas is one of the most famous plays of german expressionism. An expressionist dramatist, he was, along with gerhart hauptmann, the most frequently performed playwright of the weimar republic. No matter how you try to juice up georg kaisers gas, one of the most famous products of the german expressionist theater, its still a pretty. Gas i by georg kaiser 18781945 is the second play in his expressionist trilogythe coral 1917, gas i 1918 and gas ii 1920. Robert potter offers kaisers gas plays, tollers masse mensch masses and man, and.
After expressionism had run its feverish course, its foremost exponent georg kaiser 18781945 the burghers of calais, from morn to midnight, gas. Georg kaiser s plays include the burghers of calais 19, from morning to midnight 1912, and a trilogy, comprising the coral 1917, gas 1918, gas ii. This trilogy covers seventy years of german history. From the 1912 book if i were the kaiser by the chairman of the pan. Kaiser was born in magdeburg he was highly prolific and wrote in a number of different styles. The plays are connected through a familial relationship between the protagonist of each play.
This article examines the modernist medievalism of georg kaisers. William shawcross queen elizabeth the official biography. Georg kaiser 18781945 completed the third play of his trilogy in 1920 and titled it gas ii gas zweiter teil. Although this script is also written in the expressionist style, it is more abstract in its visual elements, details of location, dialogue, and characterizations than gas i. All the states surrounding us here in europe, all those on this globe in which the vital nerve of the state, the will to power, has not yet been killed off, reach out.
Friedrich carl georg kaiser, called georg kaiser, 25 november 1878 4 june 1945 was a. The best of intentions cant change georg kaisers german. Georg kaiser to be the greatest of the german expressionistlc play wrights. Georg kaisers expressionistische bildinszenierungen. It was written in 191718, and its debut performances took place in frankfurt and dusseldorf on 28 november 1918. An illustration of a computer application window wayback machine an illustration of an open book. Georg kaiser, leading german expressionist dramatist. From morning to midnight 1912, and a trilogy, comprising the coral 1917, gas 1918, gas ii 1920. Christina weiler purdue university download pdf save to bookshelf tweet report an error.
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