ABSTRACT
Economy, concentration of focus and exaggeration are also elements in this style, but whereas the two-dimensional quality of the minor figures is expressed in disciplined angularity, the style appropriate to the central figure results from a release of all controls on his passion. In place of the associative symbol, communication now becomes intense and immediate. It is here that even Erwin Kaiser moves away from abstractionism towards primitivism, where the voice at times becomes the Schrei'. By loosing Schiller's work from its specific historical situation and seeking to distil off its general political meaning, Leopold Jessner and Emil Pirchan achieved the first major example of truly abstractionist setting in Expressionist theatre. Following the lead given by Kaiser and other playwrights of his generation, the theatre found its highest realization of abstractionist Expressionism in the work of a director whom they have already had cause to refer to frequently, Leopold Jessner.
