Theatre History Overview - Part 48 - German Theatre

The exact date of when theatre start in Germany is difficult to determine. It is known that Renaissance theatre happened from the 10th century to the 17th century. German baroque theatre crossed with this period as it started in 1550. During this time, the passion play at Oberammergau was first performed in 1634. The play is acting out the last days of Jesus from his ride into Jerusalem to his crucifixion on the cross. Some people say that the play is anti-semetic, but the play gives insight into the early days of passion plays and Christianity. The play was first performed because the inhabitants of Oberammergau, Germany made a promise to God that if he saved them from the bubonic plague, that they would perform a play depicting the last days of Jesus every ten years. Then German classical theatre crossed over into this period as it started in 1720.

In 1730, Gottsched tried to improve German drama by translating plays from French and English. In 1750, the movement known as realistic theatre started. By 1770, the movement sturm und drang was in Germany. The movement's name literally means "storm and stress," but means that the literature tends to be filled with emotional unrest and rejects neoclassical literary norms. in contrast to sturm on drang, by 1790, a romantic spirit had entered German theatre.

In the 1890s, the ideas of naturalism and expressionism came to the German theatre. Bertolt Brecht's first play, Baal was written in 1918. In 1924, Brecht started the idea of epic theatre. Then in 1928, he had a huge success with The Three Penny Opera Hitler took over Germany in 1933. Though it would not seem like it from many stories, theatre existed in the concentration camps. However, even if it happened to be a distraction for the prisoners, it was still used as a way to control and perhaps punish them. Some of the prisoners were forced to put on plays. Some of the prisoners were forced to construct a stage. A drunken guard may have suddenly decided that he wanted to watch a show would force the prisoners to perform.

Different styles of theatre continued throughout Germany. In the early 1960s, the theatre of fact movement, also known as documentary theatre, started in Germany. It dealt with examining recent historical events by looking at official documents. Theatre in Germany continues to be strong with both local and international shows.

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