70 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



Miss Julia Marlowe in splendid style. Both of these plays are for the 

 more serious minded class of theater-goers. Their mysticism is not 

 calculated to appeal to the frivolous amusement seeker. 



There are a few other German plays which have been seen upon the 

 American stage of recent years, which are deserving of more than pass- 

 ing mention. One of these, the Old Heidelberg (1890) of Wilhelm 

 Meyer-Forster (1862-) first given in this country by Richard Mans- 

 field, has since taken its place in the repertory of the stock company 

 theaters the country over. The other is the biblical drama Mary of 

 Magdala (1899) by Paul Heyse, which was given a most impressive 

 production by Mrs. Minnie Maddern Fiske. The performance of this 

 play in Germany is still forbidden by the censor. 



On the whole, if Germany has not furnished the American stage with 

 as many well-known and popular plays as has France, the number is 

 nevertheless considerable, and that there has been much plagiarism 

 from Germany, there can be no doubt. Many a German farce with an 

 unpronounceable title is made over into an American play with American 

 scenes and names. Sometimes a vague acknowledgment by the Ameri- 

 can adapter is made. Two of his recent successes, The Blue Mouse 

 and Girls, Clyde Fitch adapted from the German of Alexander Engle 

 and Julius Horn, though in view of the very American character of 

 Girls it is hard to imagine what the German original must have been 

 like. 



Anyone really interested in the German drama, if he understands the 

 language, cannot do better than patronize the German theaters in the 

 larger cities of the United States having a considerable German popula- 

 tion. New York has for many years had a German theater, the Irving 

 Place Theater, where the performances are of the best; and in Philadel- 

 phia, Buffalo, Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Louis, there are excellent 

 performances in German. In the smaller cities there are occasional 

 performances sometimes by semi-amateur organizations, which are 

 given on Sunday evenings. The repertory is kept remarkably up to 

 date, and plays are given which are still regarded as novelties in 

 Germany. A few years ago Der Hochtourist was given in Denver, 

 by the local German company, while Mr. Francis Wilson was enter- 



