Professor Bernhardi

Arthur Schnitzler’s work has come to define Vienna at the turn of the last century. Set in a hospital in Vienna in 1900, Professor Bernhardi exposes the violent prejudices lurking beneath the city’s glittering surface. In the interests of a dying patient, Jewish doctor Professor Bernhardi prevents a Catholic priest from administering the last rites to a girl who is blissfully unaware of her imminent death. The result is a witch-hunt that sets medical etiquette against religious orthodoxy and the Christian establishment against Jews, creates a funding crisis for the teaching hospital, and even has Bernhardi convicted of agitating the Catholic religion. This acclaimed new adaptation by National Theatre playwright Samuel Adamson recently was the first production of Professor Bernhardi to appear on a London stage in more than 70 years, and TimeLine is delighted to bring it to Chicago audiences for the first time.