Cooperation and Conflict: Gdr Theatre Censorship, 1961-1989

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, the authorities in the German Democratic Republic always denied that they practised censorship. In this fascinating new study, Laura Bradley explores how the authorities' denial affected the language and experience of theatre censorship. She shows that it left theatre practitioners doubly exposed: they remained officially responsible for their productions, even if the productions had passed pre-performance controls. In the absence of a fixed set of criteria, cultural functionaries had to make difficult judgements about which plays and productions to allow, and where to draw the line between constructive criticism and subversion. Drawing on a wealth of new archive material, the study explores how theatre practitioners and functionaries negotiated these challenges between 1961 and 1989. The chapters in Part I explore theatre censorship in East Berlin, asking how the controls affected different genres, and how theatre practitioners responded to the construction of the Berlin Wall, the Prague Spring, and the expatriation of Wolf Biermann. Part II broadens the focus to the regions, investigating why theatre practitioners complained of strong regional variations in theatre censorship, and how they responded to Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of glasnost and perestroika. By examining a range of case studies, from banned stagings to those that met with official approval, the book puts high-profile disputes back into context. It shows how censorship operated through human negotiation, illuminating the shifting patterns of cooperation and conflict that influenced the space available for theatrical experimentation.

Brecht and Political Theatre The Mother on Stage Laura Bradley

`This meticulously researched and informative book will be a boon for theater practitioners. It should also serve as a model for performance histories of other Brecht plays.' Helen Fehervary, Brecht Yearbook

`This meticulously researched account of the staging and reception of Brecht's Die Mutter covering a period of seven decades is the first monograph on the play in any language... a densely argued and rewarding survey.' J.J. White, Modern Language Review

Theatre Censorship From Walpole to Wilson David Thomas, David Carlton, and Anne Etienne

`this well-written and thoughtful book shows that theatre, as with other areas of popular culture, is subject to controls on a number of fronts. The book's novel, cross-disciplinary approach and engaging style warrants a wide audience.' Guy Osborn, Times Higher Education Supplement

`a ground-breaking work on censorship and theatre' Chris Arnot, The Guardian

Laura Bradley is Lecturer in German at the University of Edinburgh.