Abstract

Below is a facsimile of the playbill from Gerhart Hauptmann’s social drama Vor Sonnenaufgang [Before Daybreak]. Hauptmann’s naturalist work was one of the first productions staged by Theaterverein Freie Bühne or Free Stage Association. It caused a sensation at its premiere in October 1889. The play was in keeping with Hauptmann’s pronouncement: “writers are the tears of history.”

Playbill for Gerhart Hauptmann’s Before Daybreak (October 20, 1889)

  • GerhartHauptmann

Source

Source: Gernot Schley, Die Freie Bühne in Berlin. Der Vorläufer der Volksbühnenbewegung. Ein Beitrag zur Theatergeschichte in Deutschland. Berlin: Haude & Spenersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1967, p. 51.