Thoma was shocking (so in
original) they concluded that their author was "casting a long
shadow." To-day Dr. Thoma is a recognized figure in Germany. Prof.
Robert F. Arnold in "Das Moderne Drama" (Strassburg, 1908) ranks
him next to Hauptmann. His writings are numerous. A vein,
satirical and humorous, with a conception of the pathetic, makes
him more than an equal to Mark Twain. In addition he is possessed
of a message, which he delivers in the Moral.
First produced in 1908 the play soon became a part and parcel of
the repertoire of the leading theatres in Germany. It was put on
for the first time in New York, in German, at the Irving Place
Theatre in the spring of 1914, through the efforts of the late
Heinrich Matthias and the writer. Mr. Matthias then played the
part of Beermann. Mr. Christians, the director, repeated the
performance a number of times that season, each performance
meeting with a warm response.
The late Percival Pollard was the first American critic to
emphasize the importance of Dr. Thoma's work in his excellent
resume of contemporary German literature: Masks and Minstrels of
Modern Germany. He pointed out "that no country where hypocrisy or
puritanism prevail as factors in the social and municipal conduct
should be spared the corrective acid of this play."
H. L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan for many years have sung
praises of the Moral in the Smart Set.
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