The Weavers

The Weavers is a five-act play written by the German playwright Gerhart Hauptmann in 1892. It is probably Hauptmann's most important drama and portrays with sympathy a group of Silesian weavers who rose up in 1844 out of concern about the effects of the Industrial Revolution.

The play is notable for having no true central character. Instead, the weavers as a class form the real protagonist, which makes it an ensemble piece. Critics have pointed to this formal choice as one of Hauptmann's most significant experiments in dramatic form.

Its reach was wide. Pinchas Goldhar translated it into Yiddish in the 1920s, and it became a favorite of the Yiddish stage. In 1927 it was adapted as a German silent film directed by Frederic Zelnik and starring Paul Wegener. It also inspired Käthe Kollwitz's print series of the same name (1893-1897), and the mid-20th century American folk group The Weavers took its name from the play.