The Eternal Road: A Drama in Four Parts. Text of the Max Reinhardt Production
New York: The Viking Press, 1936. First American edition. Softcover. Octavo. XI, [1], 144pp. Original pictorial wrappers. Publisher's logo on title page. The Eternal Road is a remarkable play originally published in German under the title: Der Weg der Verheissung – The Way of the Covenant, by Austrian novelist and playwright Franz Werfel. "The Eternal Road" premiered at the Manhattan Opera House on January 7, 1937, given a lavish and spectacular production involving 245 actors, and ran for 153 performances. Although it received good reviews, it was not revived for 63 years. The play was conceived by Zionist activist Meyer Weisgal to alert the then-ignorant public to Hitler's persecution of the Jews in 1937 Germany. Weisgal enlisted the help of director Max Reinhardt, who found Weill to compose the music and Werfel to write the libretto. Set in a synagogue where Jews hide all night as a pogrom rages outside, the story combines Biblical and pre-World War II Jewish history. The rabbi reads from the Torah, leading, in each act, to the exploration and re-enactment of a different Biblical theme. At the conclusion, the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the deportation of those hiding become one, while the despair of a scattered people is balanced by a messianic voice that speaks of hope for deliverance of the Jews in Zion – (although by 1937 Jews were unable to emigrate from Germany to most countries and were barred from Palestine). Moderate age wear on wrappers with spine and edges age-toned and rubbing along joints. Wrappers in overall fair to good, interior in very good condition. g. Item #31557
Price: $45.00