Conclusion

Abstract

It is well known that there is no single theatre capital for German speaking countries equivalent to London or New York. Individual regions and cities, including Berlin, support numerous theatres which rise and fall in status depending on their current successes and the residency and leadership of innovative Intendants, directors, actors and dramaturgs.¹ Peter Stein at the Theater am Lehniner Platz (formerly the Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer) and Claus Peymann in Bochum are only two directors’ names to conjure with in the last ten years. Though the levels of subsidies at the various theatres are a constant source of debate, and though a tension exists between artistic freedom and public answerability in a state supported system, there is no doubt that German speaking countries are dedicated to the theatre as a cultural institution. For contemporary playwrights this does not automatically provide a bed of roses: in the seventies, Shakespeare and Brecht productions outstripped the total number of productions of all the plays by all the playwrights considered in this book by a ratio of six to one.²