For almost two centuries, plays from the great age of German drama have been studied primarily as literature. While the plays of Schiller, Goethe, Kleist and Buchner are indeed great literature, they are also outstanding texts for performance, written in a specific theatrical context. This account, the first in English, examines that theatrical context to show how German theatre in the 18th century developed from a market sideshow performed by wandering players to an important element of German cultural life, and political expression. It examines Schiller as "theatre-poet" at Mannheim; Goethe's work as a director of the Court Theatre at Weimar; and then traces how the rapid commercial growth of theatre made it difficult for Kleist and impossible for Buchner to see their plays staged in their own lifetimes.
- ISBN10 0415032741
- ISBN13 9780415032742
- Publish Date 29 November 1990
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 8 November 2009
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Imprint Routledge
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 192
- Language English