Friday, August 14, 2020

280. KABALE UND LIEBE. From my (unpublished) ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE NEW YORK STAGE, 1970-1975

KABALE UND LIEBE (Cabals and Loves) [Dramatic Revival/German Language] A: Friedrich Schiller; D: Oscar Fritz Schuh; S/C: Ursula Schuh; L: Heinz Kraile, Friedrich Schoberth; P: Gert von Gontard Foundation presents Szene 1971; T: Barbizon-Plaza Theatre (OB); 11/2/71-11/7/71 (8)

Note: no photos are available for this production

Cabals and Loves or, as it’s better known in English, Love and Intrigue, is a 1784 semi-classic drama by German playwright Friedrich Schiller which was seen locally in this touring version by the German company Szene 71. Richard F. Shepard viewed it as “an old-fashioned play with constant intrusions of—pardon the expression—relevance, with its commentaries on middle-class morality and class conflicts.”

Staged with barely any scenery and a lack of movement, Kabale und Liebe concentrated on the author’s linguistic brilliance, lost, of course, on non-German-speaking audiences. For those with the language, Shepard said “the acting is quite good.” The only known previous New York staging was another German version, seen in 1928.

The same company also produced an adaptation of Franz Kafka's The Trial during their tenure in New York.