"Schluck und Jau"

"Schluck und Jau," the play which the Deutscher Verein will present next winter, is one of the latest works of Gerhart Hauptmann. It appeared only last winter and was enthusiastically received in Berlin. It has not yet been presented in this country. The plot is as follows:

On the lawn before the iron doors of a hunting castle in the woods, two drunken tramps, Schluck and Jau, are sitting, shouting and gesticulating. In the very midst of the disturbance the Prince Jon Rand and his hunting party appear. The prince at once flies into a fury and threatens to put the two tramps into the stocks. His comrade, Karl, however, persuades him to be patient and promises good sport.

The scene of the second act is a finely furnished bedroom within the castle. On one side is a gorgeous bed in which lies Jau. Two servants stand at the bedside, holding silver trays with chocolate and other delicacies. When Jau awakes he does not at first believe what he sees, but is finally persuaded that he is the real prince. Jon Rand prescribes as a tonic a cordial, from the effect of which Jau soon becomes unable to do or say anything correctly.

The scene of the third act is the waiting room of the Princess Sidselill. At a window looking out on the court yard stand Karl and Frau Adeluz, the lady in waiting, laughing at the attempts of Jau to mount his horse for the hunt. When the hunting party has left, Karl persuades Frau Adeluz to dress the other tramp, Schluck, in the clothes of the princess and to treat him as if he were the real princess.

The scene of the next act is the great banquet hall of the castle. A mighty feast is going on with Jau at the head of the table, surrounded by the courtiers, and Jon Rand at the foot. When the gaiety is at its height and Jau is well filled with wines, Frau Adeluz brings in Schluck dressed as a princess, but still wearing his long beard. Jau sinks in his chair with astonishment, then rushes upon Schluck and embraces him. Schluck assumes a high-pitched voice and calls Jau by endearing names, all the time endeavoring to kiss him. Then Jau breaks away in horror and calls on the courtiers to remove the fright. They of course refuse, saying that she is his wife. This only makes him angry and the act closes with Schluck singing a love song, and Jau trying his best to escape.

After another act full of similar horse-play, in which the tramps are still more confused about their identity, the curtain rises for the last act upon the same scene as that with which the play began. Jau lies sleeping on the grass where Schluck finds him. Jau still thinks that he is the prince and orders Schluck to bring him some champagne. Schluck refuses and they are still quarreling when the hunters come out with the prince and Karl at their head. The party stops, the prince tells the men they have dreamed, throws them a purse and rides on. Jau shakes his head, calls Schluck and confides his perplexity. Both then go off to an inn to drown their sorrows.