Of the many comedies written by Bahr, this last one can best be compared to his masterpiece, the effervescently funny “Concert.” Carried by an excellent performance, his cheerful mood swept the audience along; one could not only laugh out loud, but also quietly enjoy the approval of one’s intellect. The surprise was all the more pleasant given that “Children” and “The Little Dance”, the two comedies that appeared after “Concert,” seemed to signal an inability to develop further. Certainly, “The Principle” is also fleeting, if you will. The author does not care about a handful of improbabilities, even impossibilities; he glosses over many important things and sketches the humanitarian world-improvement enthusiast Esch, who according to the title should be the main character, with only a few very caricatured strokes. But this summarily erratic approach works at the same time with such daring élan, such a wealth of ideas, contrasts, and meaningful psychological insights that one is happy to accept it as “poetic license.”
Conrad Schmidt: Vorwärts, 21.1.1913