Theater in der Zeitenwende: Zur Geschichte des Dramas und des Schauspieltheaters in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik 1945-1968 ed. by Werner Mittenzwei (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 125 elements and little tragic achievement in modern plays, one wonders about his private estimate of the over-all worth of contemporary drama, though he sensibly says that it is too soon to tell. The last two chapters deal with chronology and theme. Laying no claims to historical completeness, the chapter on chronology surveys selected plays performed during six decades of the twentieth century to demonstrate, among other things, "the mingling (or wavering) of generic modes" during the period. The final chapter singles out one theme, money, as it has been dramatically treated since 1875; this third method of testing the generic theory produces much the same conclusions as the chapters on chronology and on individual playwrights . Yet it is not the conclusions, which rest on the generic definitions, that are of greatest interest in this book, but rather Heilman's analyses of individual authors and plays and his occasional observations throughout, some quite by the way, which make one pause to put a tick in the margin or to pursue a train of thought in one's own mind. For instance, much is written, said, and shouted these days about "commitment" in literature, dramatic or otherwise; Heilman brings one up short when he says, "To some writers commitment will always mean not the commitment of the self to literature but the commitment of literature to the self, that is, to the causes that quicken the heart." One may reject the neatness of the dichotomy, but one has to consider its implications. Such observations as this, along with the critical analyses of specific works, make The Iceman, the Arsonist, and the Troubled Agent a book worth reading - if the heretic can forgive Heilman his definitions. ANN P. MESSENGER Simon Fraser University THEATER IN DER ZEITENWENDE: ZUR GESCHICHTE DES DRAMAS UND DES SCHAUSPIELTHEATERS IN DER DEUTSCHEN DEMOKRATISCHEN REPUBLIK 1945-1968, ed. Werner Mittenzwei in cooperation with Manfred Berger,. Manfred Nossig, et al. Berlin: Henschelverlag, 1972, 2 volumes, 395 & 482 pp. $20.00. This extremely important two-volume work on the drama and the stage of the German Demo~ratic Republic from 1945-1968 is specifically designed to serve as a model for collective scholarship with a decisively Marxist point of view. Under the general direction of Professor Werner Mittenzwei (widely known for several important volumes on Bertoh Brecht), his "Forschungsgruppe" have jointly tackled a scholarly problem that would almost certainly have been beyond the capacity of anyone scholar working alone. Put briefly, the group has sought to approach the study of the Marxist oriented drama and stage ofthe GDR, using working methods wholly consistent with Marxist ideology. They have, I believe, succeeded admirably in this. The individual chapters (usually not identified as to the specific author of that given chapter) have considerable stylistic and methodological unity and dovetail admirably together with very little overlap and no perceptible gaps between chapters. Quite clearly, each author has been willing to put the collective endeavor ahead of purely personal interests. 126 BOOK REVIEWS . Within the almost 900 pages of these two handsome yet not inordinately expensive volumes, we are given an extremely detailed description of a very broad panorama. Wholly conscious of the drawbacks ofscholarship dealing only with the texts of plays, the collective has consistently and successfully placed the history of the text of a given play in a rich performance context. Beyond this, as might well be expected of a Marxist collective, the authors explore in depth the role of each play and its performance in the theatre as it relates to the broad social and political perspectives of life in East Germany from 1945 to 1968. Finally, to draw the outer parameter of the terrain covered in these volumes, detailed attention has also been given to the broad international and historical content that has directly contributed to the theater in East Germany. In this sense, these volumes constitute a substantial contribution to a pan-European history of the modern theater in a comparative context. Having said so many positive things about these volumes, let me now voice the few.reservations I nevertheless do have about them. It may well be uncharitable of me, and I am fully aware of the...