Staging Germanness in Contemporary British Theatre

Joseph Prestwich

Staging Germanness in Contemporary British Theatre

Joseph Prestwich

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Transcript 33

Legenda

17 March 2025 • 168pp

ISBN: 978-1-839543-10-4 (hardback) • RRP £95, $120, €120

ISBN: 978-1-839543-11-1 (paperback, forthcoming)

ISBN: 978-1-839543-12-8 (Hosted on this website)

Open Access with doi: 10.59860/t.b6accda

ContemporaryGermanEnglishDramaPoliticsopen

In the contemporary British context, German theatrical culture appears simultaneously familiar and shocking. Critics in the United Kingdom seem to both fetishize and despise the German theatrical scene. It is experimental, innovative, well-funded, and free from commercial pressures, whilst also indulgent, auteur-driven ‘directors’ theatre’. It draws practitioners from the UK seeking to learn from fellow theatre-makers in Germany, and yet the reception of these practitioners’ work in Britain can be mixed or, at worst, hostile. Arguing that Anglo-German theatre performed in the UK is fraught with artistic, aesthetic, and critical tensions, Joseph Prestwich examines theatrical performance and institutional practice to ask how Germanness is constructed within the UK in the contemporary context. Drawing on the concepts of institutional dramaturgy and cultural capital, he offers a timely consideration of the perceived value and effects of Anglo-German theatre in the post-Brexit context.

Joseph Prestwich is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, working on the European Research Council-funded project ‘Theatre and Gentrification in the European City’. He was previously a Teaching Associate at the University of Cambridge, and Lecturer in German at King’s College London.

Contents:

i-xii, 1-155	Staging Germanness in Contemporary British Theatre Joseph Prestwich Complete volume as single PDF The complete text of this book.	Read

i-xii	Staging Germanness in Contemporary British Theatre - front matter Joseph Prestwich doi:10.59860/t.c6ad131 Contents, acknowledgements, a list of figures used, and a note on translations.	Read Cite
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1-22	Introduction Joseph Prestwich doi:10.59860/t.c7bc56e German Theatre in Britain - British Theatre ‘versus’ German Theatre - Expanding Institutional Dramaturgy - Travelling Texts, Travelling Productions, Travelling Practices	Read Cite
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23-56	Chapter 1: Travelling Texts: Brecht, Büchner, Borders Joseph Prestwich doi:10.59860/t.c8cb9b5 Institutional Practice: Diversity, Accessibility, and the Converging of the ‘Crowds’ - The Threepenny Opera: A Weimar ‘Monolith’ - Woyzeck: Living with Borders - Conclusion: Brecht, Büchner, Borders, Brexit?	Read Cite
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57-90	Chapter 2: Travelling Productions: The Transnational Theatre of Thomas Ostermeier and Katie Mitchell Joseph Prestwich doi:10.59860/t.c05177c Ophelias Zimmer: The Anglo-German ‘Contact Zone’ - Ophelias Zimmer: Between Naturalism and Postdramatic Theatre - Performing Back Ostermeier - ‘Totus mundus agit histrionem’: Performing in and across the G/globe - Conclusion: British Hospitality and the ‘Good Guest’	Read Cite
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91-124	Chapter 3: Travelling Practices: Designers and Directors Working in Britain Joseph Prestwich doi:10.59860/t.c160b5f The Young Vic Theatre: Bringing the World to Lambeth and Southwark - Hildegard Bechtler, Robert Icke, and the Almeida Theatre: Insiders’ Outsiders - Cultural Politics in an ‘Empty’ Space - Haunted Dreams - The Doctor: ‘Translocal’ Diversity? - Conclusion: (Inter)cultural Capital and ‘Top-Down’ Diversity	Read Cite
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125-134	Conclusion Joseph Prestwich doi:10.59860/t.c26ffa6 Maintaining Routes - Positioning Germanness in Britain - If not Shaftesbury Avenue, then Where? - New Routes for Anglo-German Theatre	Read Cite
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135-152	Bibliography Joseph Prestwich doi:10.59860/t.c37f3ed A bibliography organised alphabetically by author.	Read Cite
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153-155	Index Joseph Prestwich doi:10.59860/t.c48e44c Index to the book.	Read Cite
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Bibliography entry:

Prestwich, Joseph, Staging Germanness in Contemporary British Theatre, Transcript, 33 (Legenda, 2025)

First footnote reference: ³⁵ Joseph Prestwich, Staging Germanness in Contemporary British Theatre, Transcript, 33 (Legenda, 2025), p. 21.

Subsequent footnote reference: ³⁷ Prestwich, p. 47.

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Bibliography entry:

Prestwich, Joseph. 2025. Staging Germanness in Contemporary British Theatre, Transcript, 33 (Legenda)

Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Prestwich 2025: 21).

Example footnote reference: ³⁵ Prestwich 2025: 21.

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