Political Theater or Making Theater Political? Brecht’s Influence on Contemporary German-Language Theatre

Abstract

A diverse range of aesthetic and dramatic forms characterizes contemporary German-language theater. The vast majority of them are directors’ theaters, which can be traced back to Brecht’s aesthetics, theory, and theatrical work. For many years, Brecht’s influence went unnoticed, but that has changed since the millennium’s turn, with 9/11, the financial crisis, and the threat of climate change. In addition to providing a current overview of advanced forms of contemporary German-language theater, this study shows that today, seemingly opposing aesthetics, such as dramatic-social realism on the one hand and post-dramatic theater on the other hand, see themselves as heirs to Brecht. Making political theater or making theater political, the reference to Brecht’s “Schaustücke” orBrecht’s “Lehrstücke” establishes different priorities, which influence the acting style of contemporary theater in general. Even if it is aesthetically different in each case, the dialectic difference between role and actor is more common in Germanspeaking state-of-the-art theater. Younger theater-makers are also increasingly discovering the revolutionary Brecht, as evidenced by the theater’s commitment to combating increasing injustice and climate change.

Keywords

• brecht
• contemporary theater
• making theater political
• social realism
• post-dramatic theater