Georg Büchner's Dantons Tod: History and Her Story on the Stage

Georg BUchner's Dantons Tod: History and Her Story on the Stage LAURA GINTERS INTRODUCTION Since its first production in 1902, Georg BUchner's Dantons Tod has been produced nearly three hundred times in theatres all over Germany (including the former German Democratic Republic), Switzerland and Austria. Each new generation of theatre-makers turns to the play to express (overwhelmingly) its response both to a classic of German dramatic literature and to the social and political concerns of the day; and even when such concerns are not specifically expressed, critics and audiences are very much prepared to read this into a production. This "snapshot," taken at one of the darkest points of the French Revolution, when its success is in doubt and the means of achieving it even more in question, has proved to be rich material for the German stage. The capacity for this dramatic text to be rewritten in each new production means that the play is now much more about German society at a given point in its twentieth-century history than any "objective" account of the events of the French Revolution. Many theatre-makers have returned to the play more than once in their careers, often in more than one capacity (actor. director, designer), and the chronology of productions over the last ninety-odd years often reads as a "Who's Who" of German theatre. All of the above is true - but tells us a biased story. The play has often been described as a "Miinnerstiick" ("men's play"), referring, onc supposes, to its plot, but this is an appropriate description also of the theatrical industry which. has produced it with such enthusiasm and frequency this century. Those who have sought to come to terms with and reflect the German spirit at a given moment of history through a production of the play have almost exclusively been men. Moreover, male directors have tended to concentrate on the historical events of the Revolution, often cutting "lyrical" passages (usually the women's lines) to concentrate on the "action," andlor realising cliched Modern Drama, 39 (1996) 650 History and Her Story "types," rather than individual female characters. Of course, this raises Gayle Austin's question of the possibility of portraying women and not just "Woman" on the stage at all,' but it is noteworthy that the interpretation of the play through male directors has not yet met with any serious challenges from female directors. Only two women have directed the play in Germany, the first in 1989 and another late in 1994.' There are, of course, far fewer female directors in German theatnls than male, but one wonders whether perhaps female directors have deliberately chosen other projects rather than taking on the burden of this weighty classic "Miinnerstilck"? BU C H NER'S TEXT It may be shown, however, that the frequently crude or neglectful interpretations of the female characters in the play (both in literary criticism and on the stage) are not justified by Buchner's text. The text itself reveals the importance of the female characters to the whole of the play. Both structurally and thematically they have a profound influence on the way one may read and understand the playas a whole, but the way in which this has been achieved has even now not yet been fully acknowledged - and certainly not fully realised on the stage. Interpretations of the play (both literary and theatrical) have often concentrated on the "main" action of the play: the last few days of the life of the revolutionary Danton, before he and his fellow revolutionaries are guillotined at the instigation of Robespierre and his faction. Certainly, the play could almost be read as a documentary recounting of the downfall of one of the many groups of Revolutionaries who competed most bloodily for power and control of the new republic at that time.3 This impression is confirmed by the large number of historically accurate speeches contained in the play: it has been estimated, for example, that one sixth of the dialogue is direct quotation from the Convention debates. The characters and fates of the individual revolutionaries portrayed are also historically accurate. It is interesting, then, that it is only...