His greatest literary work is in the field of the drama, in which he became successful almost instantly. His strength is not in poetic beauty and in deep insight into human character, as in the instance of a number of other German dramatists. He is essentially a man of the theatre, a dramatist, and a technician by instinct. He is a dramatic craftsman of the first order.
His chief one-act plays are in two volumes: Morituri, which contains Teja, Fritchen, and The Eternal Masculine; and Roses, which contains Streaks of Light, Margot, The Last Visit, and The Far-Away Princess.
The Far-Away Princess is one of the most subtle and most delicate of Sudermann's plays. Its technic is exemplary.
| CHARACTERS |
| The Princess von Geldern |
| Baroness von Brook, her maid of honor |
| Frau von Halldorf |
| Liddy }her daughters |
| Milly } |
| Fritz Strübel, a student |
| Frau Lindemann |
| Rosa, a waitress |
| A Lackey |
THE FAR-AWAY PRINCESS[L]
THE PRESENT DAY: The scene is laid at an inn situated above a watering-place in central Germany.
The veranda of an inn. The right side of the stage and half of the background represent a framework of glass enclosing the veranda. The left side and the other half of the background represent the stone walls of the house. To the left, in the foreground, a door; another door in the background, at the left. On the left, back, a buffet and serving-table. Neat little tables and small iron chairs for visitors are placed about the veranda. On the right, in the centre, a large telescope, standing on a tripod, is directed through an open window. Rosa, dressed in the costume of the country, is arranging flowers on the small tables. Frau Lindemann, a handsome, stoutish woman in the thirties, hurries in excitedly from the left.
FRAU LINDEMANN. There! Now she can come—curtains, bedding—everything fresh and clean as new! No, this honor, this unexpected honor—! Barons and counts have been here often enough. Even the Russian princes sometimes come up from the Springs. I don't bother my head about them—they're just like—that!—But a princess—a real princess!
ROSA. Perhaps it isn't a real princess after all.