Summary

Scene 1 takes place in 1899, in an apartment belonging to the Merz family in Vienna. The scene features 12 members of two Jewish families, including adults and children, as well as three domestic staff. Throughout the scene, different characters speak over and across each other, with different aspects of the scene playing out simultaneously on stage, making it difficult to follow who everyone is and what is happening.

The apartment is occupied by Emilia (Grandma) Herz, her son Hermann, Hermann’s wife Gretl and their son Jacob. Although originally Jewish, Hermann has converted to Christianity and Gretl is not Jewish. Visiting the apartment is Hermann’s sister Eva, her husband Ludwig, and their two children, Pauli (aged 8) and baby Nellie. Also visiting are Ludwig’s sister Wilma, her husband Ernst who is not Jewish, their twin daughters Sally and Rosa, and Wilma’s eighteen year old...