SOURCE: Walton, Luverne. “Anatol on the New York Stage.” Modern Austrian Literature 2, no. 2 (summer 1969): 30-44.

In the following essay, Walton discusses the production history of Anatol on the New York stage.

The dramas of Arthur Schnitzler were introduced to New York theater audiences in 1897, when Liebelei made its debut at the Irving Place Theater. The next two years witnessed the American premieres of Freiwild and Das Vermächtnis, plays equally somber in mood as Liebelei, and identified Schnitzler as a writer of tragedy. It was not until after the turn of the century that the world of this “leichtsinniger Melancholiker” was revealed to New York audiences, but since its appearance Anatol has surpassed all other plays of Schnitzler in popularity, longevity, and in the variety of media and languages in which it has been presented to American audiences. Though performed only once in its entirety, there have been...