Political Theatre in Berlin - Detailseite

Is theatre political? How does political theatre look like and how can we define it? Where in Berlin political theatre took place – and still does take place? In this seminar we want to look what’s going on on Berlin stages nowadays but we also try to examine the theoretical categories which serve to describe the „political“ on stage and want to highlight some key moments of Berlin theatre history. By looking into the historical and current positions of political theatre in Berlin as well as by visiting some of the most important stages, the students shall be encouraged to discover other plays on Berlin sta­ges by reflecting their political content and to deepen the course readings on their own. Important moments of our seminar will be Brecht’s theatre company „Berliner Ensemble“, the „Volksbühne“ at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz or the so-called „post-migrant“ theatre that causes quite a stir today at the „Maxim-Gorki-Theater“. Specific forms of theatre such as the documentary theatre – e.g. by Peter Weiss in the 1960s or nowadays by Andres Veiel – that deals with social questions, will be focused as well. In addition to our readings of theoretical and literary texts throughout the seminar sessions, we also want to take the opportunity to see some of the most recent productions together and discuss them afterwards.

All relevant texts preparing the seminar discussions will be provided online, if available as well in an English version. Nevertheless, students should have some reading capactiy (A1-B1) of German. Concerning the acquisition of credits, students are obliged to give a short oral presentation (approx. 10 mins.) on a topic of their choice and to write a brief scientific essay.

Brecht, Bertolt: Schriften zum Theater. Hg.v. W. Hecht. Bd. 1-3. Frankfurt/M. 1960: Suhrkamp.

-------: Buckower Elegien, 1953. In: Ausgewählte Werke in sechs Bänden. Dritter Band: Gedichte 1.         Frankfurt am Main 1997: Suhrkamp Verlag.

Deck, Jan/ Sieburg, Angelika (Hgg.): Politisch Theater machen. Neue Artikulationsformen des Politi­       schen in den darstellenden Künsten. Bielefeld 2011: Transcript.

Erpulat, Nurkan/Hillje, Jens: Verrücktes Blut. Berlin 2010: Pegasus-Verlag.

Fischer-Lichte, Erika: Die Entdeckung des Zuschauers. Paradigmenwechsel auf dem Theater des 20.      Jahrhunderts. Tübingen [u.a.] 1997: Francke.

-------: Kurze Geschichte des deutschen Theaters. Tübingen 1993: Francke.

Fischer-Lichte, E., Kollesch, D., Weiler, Ch.(Hg.): Transformationen. Theater der Neunziger Jahre.           Berlin 1999: .

Focke, Ann-Christin: Unterwerfung und Widerstreit. Strukturen einer neuen politischen     Theaterästhetik. München 2011: Utz.

Hecht, Werner: Die Mühen der Ebenen. Brecht und die DDR. Berlin 2013: Aufbau Verlag.

Irmer, Thomas: Zehn Jahre Volksbühne. Intendanz Frank Castorf. Berlin 2003: Theater der Zeit.

Pfister, Manfred: Das Drama. Theorie und Analyse. 11. Aufl., München 2001: Fink.

Piscator, Erwin: Schriften. Hg. v. L. Hoffmann. Berlin 1980: Henschelverlag.

Marschall, Brigitte: Politisches Theater nach 1950. Wien [u.a.] 2010:  Böhlau.

Pollesch, René: „ ‚Entschlüsselt mich!‘ Ein Interview mit René Pollesch von Romano Pocai, Martin         Saar und Ruth Sonderegger“. In: Texte zur Kunst 13, 2003, 49, 113-127.

Pollesch, René: Kill your darlings. Stücke. Hamburg 2014: Rowohlt-Taschenbuch-Verlag.

Schiller, Friedrich: Vom Pathetischen zum Erhabenen. Schriften zur Dramentheorie. Hg. v. Klaus             Berghahn. Stuttgart 2009: Reclam.

Schneider, Wolfgang (Hg,): Theater und Migration. Herausforderungen für Kulturpolitik und          Theaterpraxis. Bielefeld 2011: Transcript.

Veiel, Andres: Der Kick: ein Lehrstück über Gewalt. München 2007: DVA.

Weiss, Peter: Werke in sechs Bänden. Bd. 5 (Die Ermittlung. Lusitanischer Popanz. Viet Nam    Diskurs). Frankfurt/M. 1991: Suhrkamp.

Internationale Programmstudierende.

International Incoming Students.