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Bradley, Laura. Cooperation & Conflict: GDR Theatre Censorship 1961–1989. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. xi+312 pp. £55.00. ISBN 9780199589630, Forum for Modern Language Studies, Volume 48, Issue 4, October 2012, Page 487, https://doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cqs040
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Extract
In this very detailed and conscientious study on censorship in GDR theatre, Laura Bradley presents censorship as an integral part of all theatre production in East Germany. Based on case studies of theatre productions and the role censorship played in their development – including prevention and prohibition – the monograph offers a representative view of theatres in East Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Halle, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg, and discusses legendary productions and bans of contemporary as well as classical plays, such as the 1962 production of Die Sorgen und die Macht and the 1974 production of Deutschland: Ein Wintermärchen, both at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin; or the 1989 production of Die Ritter der Tafelrunde at the Staatsschauspiel in Dresden. The meticulously researched case studies focus on the highly complex workings of GDR censorship, which involved diverse external authorities with differing, even contradictory, aims; on internal theatre groupings and their conflicting interests; and, of course, on self-censorship. The still common approach that politically critical productions were actually an expression of clear political dissent is effectively refuted by Bradley as she explores the involvement in censorship of all participants in theatre productions. The case studies successfully highlight the power strategies and mechanisms employed by all sides in the state dictatorship against the background of far-reaching events such as the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the Prague Spring in 1968, or the expatriation of Biermann in 1976. This study is a rich read for anyone specializing in GDR literature and art.
