SOURCE: "Ernst Barlach and the Theater," in The German Quarterly, Vol. XXXVI, No. 1, January, 1963, pp. 39-51.

In the following essay, Chick outines Barlach's difficulties in the German theater.

A more accurate title to this study might have been "Barlach versus the Theater" or better "The Theater versus Barlach," for there was almost never any proper reciprocal relationship between them.¹ In his lifetime (1870-1938) there was, to put it mildly, misunderstanding on both sides, and since the war some of the tension has lived on in the attitudes of theater people and critics.

The question whether Barlach's dramas deserve a place in the repertoire of major theaters or are best played occasionally on a studio or student stage has still to be answered, and can be answered only in practise. The most an article like this can do is to sketch the stage history of the four best plays...