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.
‘The analyses are certainly rigorous, as is the engagement with extensive scholarly and journalistic sources. The performance analyses are framed by the specificities of the institutions to reveal subtle and detailed readings throughout... The deployment of pertinent theoretical frameworks, institutional contextualization and the specificities of the productions in question deliver insightful conclusions.’ — David Barnett, Journal of European Studies 55.3, 2025, 397-99 (full text online)
‘A thoughtful and considered study of contemporary Anglo-German theatrical exchange. Prestwich is extensive in his approach to the productions studied and engaging in his analysis. This text tells us much about the complex relations between the two states at theatrical and political levels and represents an important contribution to Anglophone scholarship on German theatre culture.’ — Richard McClelland, Comparative Drama 59.4, Winter 2025, 183-185 (full text online)
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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?
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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’
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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
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