Eric Bentley, Round One/Round Two

cover graphic by Lamont O’Neal, art by Felicien Rops

cover image by Lamont O’Neal from Man in Polyester Suit by Robert Mapplethorpe

Back in 1955, Eric Bentley translated a version of Reigen (renamed La Ronde after the 1950 Ophuls film) that was produced by Circle in the Square (and Theodore Mann) and directed by Jose Quintero. He was able to get away with it--despite the ban to produce it by the Schnitzler family (in place until 1982)--because of the different American copyright laws. It would serve as the inspiration for his play, Round Two, which places the action of turn-of-the-century Vienna in the gay culture of 1970s Manhattan. In 2008, Bentley adapted his 1955 translation to create Round One, which he remarked could "also serve as a full-length prologue" to Round Two.

http://www.hotreview.org/articles/roundtworoundone.htm

One of the most interesting comments from Bentley's preface from the link above is his observation that there is are no specific references to syphilis of any sort in the original play, in spite of the popular perception. Schnitzler must "have been acutely aware of the dangers of syphilis is true but such awareness is not present in Reigen." It was likely in the minds of his colleagues, however, who probably saw the spread of the disease amongst the characters due its prevalence at the time (and why those who had seen Round Two automatically saw AIDS being spread though Bentley made no such reference).

A second comment that Bentley makes about Reigen is its reference to death. While not as prominent as in Schnitzler's other works, it is still present in the forms of the soldier and count who "are close companions of the Grim Reaper"--the soldier faces death constantly and the count refers to death specifically as a close relative to sleep. Why I think this is an important observation is because of our concerns about injecting an element of risk into The Blue Room. The specter of death appears to have been largely removed by David Hare, and may have robbed the play of some its bite by changing the soldier to a cab driver and removing the reference to death by the Aristocrat.

One final observation is on the theme of love. Bentley states that, "love is on everyone's tongue but has not reached anyone's heart." The characters may have been successful at satisfying (most) of their carnal needs to varying degrees (not everyone is basking in post-sex afterglow), but they are not successful at finding love. Even the Student, who insists that he is in love with the Married Woman, simply exclaims at the end of scene 4 that he is "fucking a married woman" rather than appearing head over heels in love. The characters are still lonely they only use sex to connect with others--when love and relationship building requires much more emotional investment than they appear to give.