Theatre
The Camel Through the Needle's Eye
Velbloud uchem jehly
František Langer · 1923
Synopsis
The son of a rich manufacturer, promised to an heiress of his own milieu who does not interest him, makes the acquaintance of a beggar and falls in love with his stepdaughter. Between his father's villa and the home of the poor, the young man discovers people he had never known, and another way of being happy than the one money promised him.
Context
The play was printed in 1923; sources differ on its premiere at the Švanda Theatre, which some place in 1923 and others in 1925. Spectators sent the author so many figurines of camels that his house filled with them. Max Reinhardt staged it, and it was performed on Broadway in 1929 for one hundred and ninety-six performances. Karel Lamač made a silent film of it in 1926, Hugo Haas and Otakar Vávra a second, released in 1937.
Who it is for
A conversation comedy with a sharp humour, about the meeting of two social worlds. No French translation; an English translation was staged in New York in 1929.
Prizes and reception
Its author's greatest success, translated into many languages and performed abroad; with Periferie, his best-known play.