Reinhard Johannes Sorge
Reinhard Johannes Sorge was a German playwright known for his significant contributions to expressionist theater, particularly through his play "Der Bettler" (The Beggar), written in 1912 but produced posthumously. Born in 1892, Sorge's life was tragically cut short when he died from battlefield wounds in 1916, at the young age of twenty-four. Despite not living to see his works staged, his writings—including themes of mysticism and religion—have had a profound influence on the expressionist movement in Germany from the 1910s to the 1930s. In his plays, Sorge's characters often serve as extensions of himself, exploring deep personal and philosophical themes, notably the quest for redemption and the search for meaning in a seemingly empty world.
His protagonists frequently include both mythical and historical figures, such as David and Saint Francis, reflecting his Catholic faith, which he embraced in 1913. Sorge's unique style incorporated dream-like distortions and a fragmented narrative technique to convey his exploration of inner consciousness and divine purpose. Overall, Reinhard Johannes Sorge's legacy lies in his innovative approach to theater, which intertwines personal struggle with broader existential themes, inviting audiences to contemplate the nature of humanity and spiritual redemption.
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Reinhard Johannes Sorge
- Born: January 29, 1892
- Birthplace: Rixdorf, Germany
- Died: July 20, 1916
- Place of death: Ablaincourt, France
Biography
Although Reinhard Johannes Sorge is credited with writing the first expressionist play, Der Bettler (the beggar, 1912), he did not live to see it produced. He died in 1916 from wounds received on the battlefield at the age of twenty-four. The play was produced a year and a half later at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. Indeed, Sorge did not live to see any of his other plays produced. Most of his many writings, which include works on mysticism and religion, were published after his death. However, his influence is apparent in the succession of expressionistic plays produced in Germany in the years between the 1910’s and the 1930’s.
In Sorge’s hands, expressionism took on a particular character. His plays are intensely personal. In his two earliest plays, Der Bettler and Guntwar (1914), the protagonists are extensions of himself. In the first play, the central character is simply the Dichter (writer), a playwright passionately committed to a mission of tapping the power of drama to heal, purify and transform. To do that requires exploration of the writer’s inner voice. That, in turn, takes the audience into the mind of the character—and into the author’s mind as well. The “beggar” of the title refers to the writer’s calling on God to bring forth the Superman, who shall be writer, priest and savior, transcending all that is foul and self-serving on this earth.
Guntwar, the main character in the second play, continues this mission as a divinely proclaimed prophet to bring redemption to the world. In other plays, the protagonist is a legendary or historical figure with whom Sorge identified. Those include the biblical David in König David (King David, published in 1916, produced in 1922), and Saint Francis and Martin Luther, both in Der Sieg des Christos (the victory of Christ, published in 1914, produced in 1924). In the latter, Francis appears as a beggar, taking up poverty, humility, and holy allegiance to God to rise to full redemption. Luther, on the other hand, endures painful and useless soul-searching, little realizing that God has already rendered his grace on the world through the Church.
A secondary character, Brother John, clearly a surrogate for Sorge, attempts in vain to divert Luther from his errant ways. It requires the intervention of the Archangel Michael to put a stop to Luther’s misguided revolt. It bears mentioning that Sorge had converted to Catholicism in1913.
His particular expressionism, in addition to the use of characters who were extensions of himself, employed such devices as dream-like distortions and action split into stations illustrative of the search for meaning. All in all, these are plays based on a vision of the world as empty of true humanity and in need of mystical redemption.