Theatre
Vineta
Not translated into English
Jura Soyfer · 1937
Opening lines
Jonny
Änne, he, Änne! Mutter Änne, sag ich!
Änne, hey, Änne! Mother Änne, I say!
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from projekt-gutenberg.org
Synopsis
In a harbour tavern, an old sailor, Jonny, relives the diving accident that took him to the bottom of the Baltic, to Vineta, the sunken city. Its inhabitants have stepped out of time: they know neither past, nor history, nor future, nor hope, and live in a lethargy that nothing disturbs. The only one to remember the world above, Jonny tries to tell them about the seasons, sowing and births.
Context
The play was first staged in September 1937 at the ABC, a small Viennese political cabaret stage of which its author had become the house author and the only one still performing his last plays. In it he leaves popular theatre and cabaret for a parable: beneath the legend of the drowned Baltic city, one reads Austria turned towards the past of the corporatist state, and a warning against war and the illusions used to keep men in line.
Who it is for
A short play, written for a small stage. The device of the city outside time is immediately clear.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the summit of its author's dramatic work, in which he leaves behind the vein of popular theatre and cabaret.
Sources for this page 8
The pages consulted to check this page.