Die Stadt der Besessenen (The City of the Possessed, An Anabaptist Play in Three Acts), witten by Wilhelm Schmidtbonn (1876-1952), and performed at the Altes Theater, Leipzig, in 1917.

A scene from Die Stadt der Besessenen (The City of the Possessed, An Anabaptist Play in Three Acts), witten by the German playwright Wilhelm Schmidtbonn (1876-1952), and performed at the Altes Theater, Leipzig, in 1917.

Failed and chased away in Leiden, Jan Bockelson, preacher of the Anabaptists, wants to give his all in Münster. The city is to become the center of Anabaptist teaching, the new Jerusalem. 

 Jan Bokelson (Kurt Stieler, 1877–1963) and Hille Feiken (the prominent actress, author, and friend of Rilke and Sigmund Freud: Ellen Delp, 1890–1990).

Masquerade (four-act-tragedy 1835) written by the Russian playwright Mikhail Lermontov (1814 - 1841), and premiered in St. Petersburg, under the direction of Vsevolod Meyerhold (1874 -1940), in 1917.

A scene from Masquerade (four-act-tragedy 1835) written by the Russian playwright Mikhail Lermontov (1814 - 1841), and premiered in St. Petersburg, under the direction of Vsevolod Meyerhold (1874 -1940), in 1917.

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A Doll’s House, directed by Joseph De Grasse and starring Dorothy Phillips, in 1917.

   A Doll’s House,  directed by Joseph De Grasse and starring Dorothy Phillips, in 1917.

   In the US during the silent period, four film adaptations of Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House (Et dukkehjem) from 1879, were produced, all of which are considered to be lost films: a 1917 production directed by Joseph De Grasse and starring Dorothy Phillips.

The Breasts of Tiresias (Mamelles de Tirésias, 1903) by the French playwright Guillaume Apollinaire, and produced in 1917

A scene from The Breasts of Tiresias (Mamelles de Tirésias, a surrealist play, 1903) by the French playwright Guillaume Apollinaire (1880 - 1918), and produced at the Maubel Conservatory on June 24, 1917, with the set and costumes designed by Serge Férat (1881 -1958).

Les Mamelles de Tirésias is a "surrealist" drama in two acts and a prologue by Guillaume Apollinaire, premiered at the Maubel Conservatory on June 24, 1917 in a staging by Pierre Albert-Birot, sets by Serge Férat and costumes by Irène Lagut. The music is by Germaine Albert-Birot.

Les Mamelles di Tirésias, 1917, design by Serge Férat

Spring Awakening (1891) written by Frank Wedekind, and produced first in the English language in New York City, starring Fania Marinoff in 1917.

   A scene from Spring Awakening (Frühlings Erwachen, published in 1891) written by the German playwright Frank Wedekind (1864 - 1918), and produced first in the English language at the 39th Street Theatre in New York City, starring Fania Marinoff (1890 - 1971), Sidney Carlyle, and Geoffrey C. Stein, in 1917. 

   The first English production took place in New York City in 1917, and was met with much controversy. This performance was threatened with closure when the city's Commissioner of Licenses claimed that the play was pornographic. 

   New York Times :  1917/05/03  COURT BARS SEX PLAY.; Justice Erlanger Finds "The Awakening ...  Supreme Court Justice Erlanger decided yesterday that the production of Frank Wedekind's play, “The Awakening of Spring,” one matinée of which was recently given in English translation

   

Fania Marinoff (right) 

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Set design by Lee Simonson (1888 -1967) for the scene of Saint Joan written by Bernard Shaw, 1917

Set design of 1917 by Lee Simonson (1888 -1967) for the scene of Saint Joan written by the English playwright Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950), though first performed as late as 1923.

Ein Geschlecht (1917) written by Fritz von Unruh and produced in Frankfurt am Main in 1918

A scene from Ein Geschlecht (tragedy 1917)  written by the German playwright Fritz von Unruh (1885 - 1970) and produced in Frankfurt am Main under the direction of Gustav Haltzung? with the stage-design by Babberger in 1918.