Critical Moments

With the presentation the other night of Friedrich Wolfs play, “Sailors of Cattaro,” at the Civic Repertory Theatre on West 14th street, the alert group which calls itself the Theatre Union has once again demonstrated it is a full-bodied, mature and capable theatrical organization with a very definite objective and knows how to attain it.

The Theatre Union is the only theatrical group in New York that devotes itself successfully and exclusively to the production of plays which have some revolutionary significance, and which point out some of the weaknesses in our capitalist civilization. Its first production, “Peace on Earth,” was directed against the greed of the munitions manufacturers and the stupidity of war. “Stevedore” was a plea for racial tolerance and depicted the plight of the Negro in America.

Now we have “Sailors of Cattaro” which, by comparing the philosophy of naval officers with that of the common sailor, vividly shows the struggle of the proletariat against their oppressors.

REVOLT OF SEAMEN VIVIDLY PORTRAYED

As a basis for his play, Mr. Wolf used an actual historical incident which occurred in 1918 in the Bay of Cattaro on the Adriatic, when the sailors of one of the warships in the Austro-Hungarian navy attempted to revolt against the war, the arrogance of their officers and the conditions under which they were forced to exist. For a time the mutiny was successful, but under the assurance that conditions would be bettered, the mutiny was broken and the leaders who had been promised immunity were executed. All this Mr. Wolf has captured within the boundaries of his two-act play, but he has done more than a mere job of propagandizing the struggle between the sailors and their officers; he shows how they might have been successful had they maintained some unity. He points out how they, after capturing the ship, formed a sailors’ committee which spent its time arguing endlessly over meaningless things until the power of the revolt dissipated itself in inaction.

CAPTURE OF SHIPS AND END OF REVOLT

There is much action in the six scenes which make up the play. You are shown the sailors in their quarters, grumbling over the bad food, and how the stupidity of an officer’s brutality inspires the men to plan mutiny. In an exciting scene you are shown the actual capture of the ship and the attempt to get other ships in the fleet to join, but the men who refuse to accept the leader begin to quarrel among themselves and dissension soon becomes the dominating force. Near the end of the play the mutiny is broken by a loyal fleet which steams into the bay, and finally the leader is led away to be shot.

As leader of the mutiny, Tom Powers gives a fine, robust and understanding performance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The author, Friedrich Wolf, is a German Jew who now lives in Russia, An anti-Nazi, he was mistreated by the Hitlerites and remains one of their constant annoyers. The Theatre Union press department in a biographical sketch of Mr. Wolf; writes:

“He is a fighter, this forty-six-year-old author in exile, who at various times has been sailor soldier and physician; and Fascism has been one of his most bitter foes. Wolf began fighting Fascism back in 1920, when he was city physician of Remschied. In March of that year the first Fascist Kapp-Putsch took place. Remschied was seized and Wolf, who had fought with the workers, was sentenced to be shot. But in a dramatic last-minute rescue the workers stormed the prison and freed him, just two hours before he was scheduled to face the firing squad.

PRACTICED MEDICINE

“During the next eleven years, Wolf practiced medicine and wrote. He lived for a while among the small farmers and poor weavers of Southern Germany, and wrote of their tragedies in ‘Poor Conrad.’ His next play, ‘Cyankali,’ grew out of his experience among the impoverished metal workers of Remschied.

“By 1931, his plays had established Wolf as one of Europe’s leading social dramatists. ‘Sailors of Cattaro,’ his most popular play, was produced many times, not only at the Volksbuhne in Berlin, German prototype of the Theatre Union, but in Munich, Dresden, Vienna, Amsterdam, Moscow, Prague, Zurich and London.

“Naturally Wolf was a target for the Nazis. With the increased Fascization of Germany, he was placed under surveillance, and in November of 1931 arrested on a trumped-up charge having to do with his medical practise. But the Fascists were not yet powerful enough to keep Wolf arrested, and deluged by a storm of protests, they were forced to free him.

“Upon his release, Wolf intensified his campaign against Fascism. He organized a troupe of actors, and took them on tour through the provinces, presenting anti-Fascist plays. Hitler banned them in March, 1933.

FLEES NAZIS

“A month later, Wolf had to flee the country. One less victim for the concentration camps!

“If the Nazis could not harm Wolf bodily, they could at least attack him through his family, who had been forced to remain behind. His wife was refused a visa to leave the country. His postal savings account, where he had some savings, was seized and confiscated. Because they were Jews, the government would not allow his family to use any royalties from Wolf’s writings, and they were destitute. It was then that Wolf wrote a letter in which he said: ‘We are consequently utterly hopeless today.’

“But not quite utterly hopeless. For, several months later, Wolf’s family somehow managed to obtain a visa, and they immediately went to join him in the Soviet Union, where Wolf is now busily engaged in writing new plays. Even in exile he is battling Nazism, for recently he translated into his mother tongue the strike scene of the Theatre Union’s first play, ‘Peace on Earth.’

“It will be distributed in Germany through underground chann###.”