No More Peace

Ernst Toller

Description

This book contains the play No More Peace, written by the famous German playwright Ernst Toller. An entertaining and thoughtful comedy, this play promises to entertain and provoke the mind of the reader and constitutes a must-have for any fans of Toller’s seminal work. Originally published in 1937, we are proud to republish this scarce text with a new prefatory biography of the author. Ernst Toller (1893 –1939) was a German left-wing playwright, best remembered for his expressionist plays. He was also briefly the President of the Bavarian Soviet Republic in 1919, after which time he was imprisoned for five years. This book has been elected for modern republication due to its immense literary value and in the hope that it will continue to be read and enjoyed by future generations.

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 22 mars 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528760454
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

NO MORE PEACE!
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
S EVEN P LAYS ( The Bodley Head )
M ASSES AND M AN ( The Bodley Head )
T HE B LIND G ODDESS ( The Bodley Head )
D RAW THE F IRES ( The Bodley Head )
I W AS A G ERMAN ( The Bodley Head )
L ETTERS FROM P RISON ( The Bodley Head )
T HE S WALLOW B OOK ( Oxford University Press )
W HICH W ORLD , W HICH W AY ? ( Samson, Low )
B ROKEN -B ROW ( Nonesuch Press )
T HE M ACHINE -W RECKERS ( Benn )
H OPPLA ! W E L IVE ( Benn )
NO MORE PEACE!
a thoughtful comedy by
ERNST TOLLER
translated by Edward Crankshaw lyrics adapted by W. H. Auden music by Herbert Murrill
This volume is the authorised English translation of Nie Wieder Friede! by Ernst Toller
English edition first published in 1937
MADE AND PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY BUTLER AND TANNER LTD., FROME AND LONDON
To
CHRISTIANE
NO MORE PEACE!
THE TERMS FOR THE PERFORMANCE of this play may be obtained from James B. Pinker Son, Talbot House, Arundel Street, Strand, London, W.C.2., to whom all applications for permission should be made.
No performance or public reading may be given without written permission.
CHARACTERS
in the order of their appearance:
N APOLEON
S T . F RANCIS
T HE A NGEL
N OAH , an unemployed worker
S AMUEL , a Commissionaire
L OT , Emmissary from the League of Nations
L ABAN , Banker in Dunkelstein
D AVID , a Schoolmaster; later Minister for Propaganda and Enlightenment
J ACOB , a Brazilian; Rachel s fianc
R ACHEL , Daughter of Laban
T HE F AT M AN
T HE L ITTLE M AN
T HE T HIN M AN
C AIN , a Hairdresser; later Wartime Dictator
S ARAH , Rachel s old Nurse
A D OCTOR
S OCRATES
T HE C HILDREN AND G UESTS AT THE P ARTY
ACT ONE
S CENE 1. Olympus
S CENE 2. The City Hall in Dunkelstein
ACT TWO
S CENE 1. Olympus
S CENE 2. Cell in the Dunkelstein Prison
S CENE 3. Olympus
S CENE 4. The City Hall in Dunkelstein
S CENE 5. Olympus.
AUTHOR S NOTE TO PRODUCERS
For this play it is advantageous to have a single permanent setting, since it enables the piece to be played at the necessary speed.
Olympus may be represented by a dais raised above the ordinary level of the stage, which then may be used for the Dunkelstein scenes.
NO MORE PEACE
ACT ONE
S CENE 1
Drawing-room on Olympus .
( When the Curtain rises S T . F RANCIS and N APOLEON are seated on comfortable clouds before an open fire-place, in which the fire is the sun. In the corner at a switchboard a female A NGEL . S T . F RANCIS and N APOLEON are playing dominoes .)
N APOLEON . A cigarette, my dear Francis?
S T . F RANCIS . Thank you, I don t smoke.
N APOLEON ( pouring himself out a drink ). Whisky?
S T . F RANCIS . I don t drink, thank you.
N APOLEON . The dinner was shocking.
S T . F RANCIS . Well, you know, it s no use asking my opinion. For very many years now, I ve lived on manna and rain-water. A little of that every day is all I need.
A NGEL . There s a new cook, Your Majesty.
N APOLEON . Another Englishman, I ll be bound. We ve had roast beef every other day for a week. You know, the Almighty s predilection for the English passes my comprehension.
( Faint growling of thunder .)
S T . F RANCIS ( pointing upwards ). Softly, my friend. A most capable nation.
N APOLEON . Capable, but uninspired. I certainly underestimated them! ( Pause .) ( To A NGEL .) My dear, is there anything on the northern radio?
A NGEL . A talk by Charles Darwin on My Earthly Mistakes: Why man is not descended from the Apes.
N APOLEON . I ve heard that a hundred times already. Anything better on the Southern station?
A NGEL . The heavenly weather forecast.
N APOLEON . Set fair. Much sunshine. Further outlook very settled. I know.
A NGEL . There s a concert from the central transmitter-an English choir.
N APOLEON ( to S T . F RANCIS ). Do you mind?
S T . F RANCIS . Not at all.
L OUD S PEAKER . The heavens are telling Jehovah s glory;
The sounding spheres His power proclaim;
The earth, the oceans, are loud with His story;
Revere, O Man, His Awful Name.
N APOLEON . I m afraid it s boring enough up here when one comes to think of it. These panegyrics are apt to get monotonous. . . .
S T . F RANCIS . We live the life of the blessed. We live in peace.
N APOLEON . Precisely! . . . ( To A NGEL .) Try something else, child.
(A NGEL manipulates switchboard; from the loudspeaker issue the strains of the Internationale . )
S T . F RANCIS : What a beautiful chorale!
N APOLEON . What? The Internationale! Is this possible? Are the Gods going red?
A NGEL . Oh, I m so sorry, Your Majesty! I got on to hell by mistake . . .
( She switches off .)
S T . F RANCIS . Nevertheless, I found the music very sweet.
N APOLEON . Have you seen the papers?
S T . F RANCIS . I never read the papers.
N APOLEON ( to A NGEL ). Have the European evening papers come?
A NGEL . Yes, Your Majesty.
N APOLEON . What s happening in Paris?
A NGEL . The Government has been overthrown.
N APOLEON . Most unusual! Anything about me?
A NGEL . Your Majesty s name is not mentioned.
N APOLEON . Hm! The Parisians always were an ungrateful lot!
S T . F RANCIS . You must not forget you have been dead more than a hundred years.
N APOLEON . What are a hundred years? . . . ( To A NGEL .) And London?
A NGEL . England is threatened.
N APOLEON . Who by? America? Germany? Japan?
A NGEL . No-All India. M.C.C. are all out for 17.
N APOLEON . I m avenged at last! This is worse for them than if I had conquered India myself. What about Berlin?
A NGEL . The German Government desires nothing so much as peace.
N APOLEON . Uh! How are the armament shares?
A NGEL . United German Armaments have risen ten points.
N APOLEON . So . . . ? And the League of Nations?
A NGEL . The League of Nations has inaugurated a new Day.
S T . F RANCIS . Who is the saint?
A NGEL . It s in honour of peace. It s to be called Peace Day.
S T . F RANCIS . Amen!
N APOLEON . That means war just round the corner!
S T . F RANCIS ( up and R ). My dear Napoleon, war has been outlawed. The Governments of the earth have pledged themselves. Their ministers speak of nothing but peace. All the nations are concluding peace pacts. ( Back L .)
N APOLEON . What the devil s the use of a peace pact if not to prepare for war?
S T . F RANCIS . Ah, you believe only in the evil in men.
N APOLEON . Well, you believe only in the good in men.
S T . F RANCIS . When I was living on earth men were by no means good. They professed goodness, but their deeds were not good. The rich extolled poverty while they wallowed in splendour and luxury. Rakes and gluttons preached abstinence. Snobs cut themselves off from the sufferings of their fellow-men. If a man with seven cloaks was asked by a beggar for one of them, only one, to warm his shivering limbs, that man would lock his wardrobe and set his dogs upon the beggar. My contemporaries were lacking in understanding, in the knowledge of goodness; they served Satan and corrupted their souls. That was many, many centuries ago. To-day mankind is better, more understanding, more humane. God has sent terrible scourges on to the earth to teach men and to lead them to the right path.
N APOLEON . What do you mean by that?
S T . F RANCIS . Even you, my dear Napoleon, were an ambassador of the Almighty.
N APOLEON . That s very civil of you, Francis. But I flatter myself that I know something about human nature and don t believe all this chattering about peace.
S T . F RANCIS . Didn t you yourself write in your memoirs that in the end the mind proves stronger than the sword?
N APOLEON . That was written at the end of my days, at the end of my deeds . . . on St. Helena.
S T . F RANCIS . It has been taken very seriously by your biographers.
N APOLEON . Am I responsible for my biographers? You know what they are. Napoleon thought this in the morning, that in the afternoon, and something else at night. If I d had all the thoughts attributed to me by biographers, I should never have got anything done at all. Men of action think infrequently! . . . No, I don t believe in all this talk about peace. I tell you what, would you like to meet a scholar who has made a life study of society and its troubles? You know Marx, of course.
S T . F RANCIS . Which one?
N APOLEON . Karl Marx. The man who wrote a book.
S T . F RANCIS . What was it called?
N APOLEON . I don t know. I didn t enjoy it. Actually, of course, Marx is living in Hell, but the Almighty would certainly let him up here for an hour or so.
S T . F RANCIS . I remember-I read that book-what was it called? Das Kapital. I did not like it. I really don t think he s quite the man for me. If you don t mind I think he d better stay where he is.
N APOLEON . Just as you please. But I promise you that the very people who are boosting peace to-day will be exalting war to-morrow. You see, if one could fight for peace. . . .
S T . F RANCIS . Many martyrs have died for peace.
N APOLEON . Yes, but as martyrs, as sufferers-not as heroes, not as men of action. The martyrs are revered, but the heroes are glorified. Girls dream of heroes, not martyrs. You see, Francis, mankind loves adventure, romantic uncertainty. There is none of that in peace.
( A sound of distant bells .)
S T . F RANCIS . Do you hear that?
N APOLEON . I can t hear anythi