“People in the hotel” Vicky Baum. In two theaters nearby. Neuss and Düsseldorf

People in the hotel. The “golden 20s“ that were not that golden at all.

People in the hotel. An extremely exciting and complex topic. The musician and writer Vicky Baum (1888 – 1960) made a whole novel out of it in 1929. The subtitle says: “Kolportageroman mit Hintergründen“ (=„Trashy novel with background“).

The novel is a typical example of New Objectivity literature. A highly precise and sharply observed study of very different biographies. The story takes place almost exclusively in a Berlin luxury hotel of the “golden 20s”, which for many people were actually not so “golden” at all.

And thus, in this hotel very different characters meet and get entangled in the course of events. The house becomes an almost claustrophobic parquet for more or less stranded existences. Tumultuous entanglements around deception, love, jealousy and loneliness develop and intertwine themselves, and do not dissolve in the end. Vicky Baum herself describes this in her novel as follows: “What is experienced in the big hotel is not a round, full, self-contained fate. They are only fragments, shreds, parts; behind the doors live people, indifferent or strange, people in ascension, people in envy; bliss and catastrophe live wall to wall. The revolving door turns, and what is experienced between arrival and departure is not a whole.” And so, logically, at the very end, when Doctor Otternschlag, once again sits motionless in the foyer, the final sentence says: “The revolving door turns, swings, swings, swings, …”.

People in the hotel. A kaleidoscope of figures

There is, for example, the permanent tenant Doctor Otternschlag, a bitter, morphine addicted man whose face is disfigured by a war injury. Day after day he inquires at the reception desk whether a letter had not been delivered for him. But that is never the case. And evening after evening, he plays with the idea of putting an end to his lonely life with an overdose. Then, there’s Grusinskaja, an aged, moody ballerina who only dances in front of an only moderately numerous audience, and keeps hanging on to the splendour of days gone by.

Or the assistant accountant Kringelein, who can’t afford the luxury room he booked. In fact, he is terminally ill and has decided to leave everything behind, and is determined to spend the little time he has left to indulge in luxury. He worked in the company of General Manager Preysing, who also stayed at the hotel to negotiate the merger of his economically weak company. And he cheats. He cheats even several times, both his business partners and his wife. With his secretary Fräulein Flamm, “Flämmchen”, who will fall in love with Kringelein in the course of the events. And the charming Baron Gaigern, whose distinguished name pretends elegance, fame and glory, but who, on the contrary, keeps his head above water as a trickster and facade climber, looking for suitable victims in the hotel.

People in the hotel. A novel like a play

Even in the novel version, Vicky Baum’s text appears almost like a kind of narrated play, with many concentrated ascents and descents in one place. As early as 1930, Vicky Baum herself wrote a stage version, which was performed as one of the first directorial works by Gustaf Gründgens. In the meantime, the famous novel has been turned into a film version several times, also internationally.

In the current 2018/19 season, two theatre versions can be seen on two stages in the neighbourhood, which I would like to take as an opportunity to point out.

Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus. People in the hotel. After the play by Vicky Baum in a version by Stephan Kaluza. Directed by Sönke Wortmann. The upcoming performances at the Schaupielhaus am Gustaf-Gründgens-Platz: Wednesday January 30, Sunday February 24, Saturday March 16, 2019.

Rheinisches Landestheater Neuss. Schauspielhaus. People in the hotel. Play with live music. Directed by Marlene Anna Schäfer. Here are the upcoming dates in Neuss: Tuesday January 29, Thursday February 07, Friday February 08,2019, Sunday April 28, 2019.

How about a visit to the theatre again? Maybe already next week? Have fun when it’s time to raise the curtain!