Sturm und Drang

Sturm und Drang, a play (Schauspiel) in five acts by F. M. Klinger. It was written at Weimar in 1776 and published in 1777, though the original title-page bears the date 1776. It was first performed at Dresden on 1 April 1777. Klinger's original title was Der Wirrwarr, and this was changed before publication to Sturm und Drang at the suggestion of C. Kaufmann. This title later came to be used to designate the whole movement, otherwise called the Geniezeit (see Sturm und Drang).

The play is set in America and deals with the hatred of two noble families, Berkley and Bushy. After five acts of threats and frantic talk of vengeance they are reconciled through the love of young Bushy (Wild) and Lord Berkley's daughter. The play contains a pair of eccentric exiles from Europe (La Feu and Blasius) and is written in Klinger's wildest exclamatory prose. Klinger himself wrote in 1777, ‘Es ist meine Lieblings Arbeit’.