About the work
Das Haus Delorme is a one-act play written in 1904, subtitled A Family Scene. A premiere planned for 1904 under Max Reinhardt was cancelled; the play did not reach the stage until 24 February 1979, at Vienna's Akademietheater, alongside Die Gefährtin and Die letzten Masken.
Plot
The unemployed Charles hopes to marry into money and turns away from his sister Mathilde, an actress who supports the family with her work. When his intended bride Elsa learns there is no inheritance to expect, she flees, and Charles turns her away. The family persuades Mathilde to return, and the play ends with everyone celebrating together with their father, who unexpectedly turns up.
Cultural significance
In 1904, Schnitzler publicly pushed back in a newspaper notice against rumours that the play targeted the family of actress Adele Sandrock. Reaching the stage only 75 years after it was written makes Das Haus Delorme a rare case of a complete, stage-ready Schnitzler one-act play never performed in the author's lifetime.