''Hoppla, We're Alive!'' (german: Hoppla, wir leben!) is a ''Neue Sachlichkeit'' (or "

New Objectivity The New Objectivity (in german: Neue Sachlichkeit) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle'' in Mannheim, wh ...

") play by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

playwright

Ernst Toller Ernst Toller (1 December 1893 – 22 May 1939) was a German author, playwright, left-wing politician and revolutionary, known for his Expressionist plays. He served in 1919 for six days as President of the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic, ...

. Its second production, directed by the seminal

epic theatre Epic theatre (german: episches Theater) is a theatrical movement arising in the early to mid-20th century from the theories and practice of a number of theatre practitioners who responded to the political climate of the time through the creat ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Erwin Piscator Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator (17 December 1893 – 30 March 1966) was a German theatre director and producer. Along with Bertolt Brecht, he was the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a form that emphasizes the socio-political content o ...

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

, was a milestone in the

history of theatre The history of theatre charts the development of theatre over the past 2,500 years. While performative elements are present in every society, it is customary to acknowledge a distinction between theatre as an art form and entertainment and ''th ...

. The British playwright

Mark Ravenhill Mark Ravenhill (born 7 June 1966) is an English playwright, actor and journalist. Ravenhill is one of the most widely performed playwrights in British theatre of the late-twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His major plays include ''Shoppin ...

based his '' Some Explicit Polaroids'' (1999) on Toller's play.

Characters

Prologue

Time: 1919

Main play

This piece takes place in many countries, eight years after the crushing of a people's uprising. Time: 1927

Reception

According to theatre critic

Eric Bentley Eric Russell Bentley (September 14, 1916 – August 5, 2020) was a British-born American theater critic, playwright, singer, editor, and translator. In 1998, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. He was also a member of the New ...

’s book ''The Playwright as Thinker'', when

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

the premiere of ''Hoppla, We’re Alive!'' in 1927 and Frau Meller, the mother in the play, said "There’s only one thing to do: either hang one’s self or change the world," the youthful audience burst spontaneously into the ''Internationale''.Bentley (1987). ''Hoppla, We're Alive!'' was one of the books burned in the infamous Nazi book burning, along with 20,000 other left-wing and Jewish books.

References

Sources

* Bentley, Eric. 1987. ''The Playwright as Thinker: A Study of Drama in Modern Times.'' Revised ed. San Diego: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. . * Pearlman, Alan Raphael, ed. and trans. 2000. ''Plays One: Transformation, Masses Man, Hoppla, We're Alive!.'' By

. Absolute Classics ser. London: Oberon. .

External links

*There are som
Toller-Texts
on the Internet. Links of Helmut Schulze. *http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/TollerErnst/index.html
''Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day: Prague spring''"The Tartan Online (Carnegie Mellon's Student Newspaper) Political theater: Robert Myers evaluates politics in playwrighting"
Daily Bleed's Anarchist Encyclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoppla, We're Alive! 1927 plays Plays by Ernst Toller Expressionist plays Modernist theatre