Professor Bernhardi

Synopsis

A Jewish doctor prevents a Catholic priest from absolving a dying patient. A witch hunt ensues. Arthur Schnitzler's work defined Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century. In Professor Bernhardi, last seen in London in 1936, he lays bare the prejudices lurking beneath its glittering surface.

Our Review:

1 April 2005

This play - a study in anti-Semitism by Arthur Schnitzler and the final offering in the Last Waltz season of neglected early 20th-century drama - is quite a find. At least it is in this vigorous English version by Samuel Adamson, energetically directed by Mark Rosenblatt, artistic director of Dumbfounded Theatre, which is jointly responsible with Oxford Stage Company for such an ambitious exercise in rediscovery.

Written in 1912, but set in turn-of-the-century Vienna, the play begins like a frock-coated version of Surgical Spirit - all medical arrogance and casual references to death and clinical errors. Roger Evans as the student Mr Hochroitzpointer (whose very name is repeated as an unwieldy joke) makes the most of the comedic opportunities. But then the mood changes.

A young woman is dying of sepsis brought on by a back-street abortion. This being a strongly Catholic community (although a majority of the doctors are Jewish), a priest is summoned to admin...

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