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| Theater der Zeit | |
|---|---|
| Title | Theater der Zeit |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Country | Germany |
| Based | Berlin |
| Language | German |
Theater der Zeit is a German periodical devoted to dramatic arts, performance studies, and theatrical criticism that originated in the aftermath of World War II. Founded in 1946, the journal has chronicled postwar reconstruction, Cold War cultural policy, reunification debates, and contemporary European and international theatre movements. It functioned as a nexus connecting practitioners and institutions across Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, and other German-speaking theatre hubs, while engaging with parallel developments in Moscow, Paris, London, and New York.
The magazine emerged amid the cultural reconstruction overseen by Soviet, British, and American occupation authorities interacting with institutions such as the Berliner Ensemble, Volksbühne, Staatsschauspiel Dresden, Deutsches Theater Berlin, and Komische Oper Berlin. Early issues reflected discourses shaped by figures associated with Bertolt Brecht, Heiner Müller, Erwin Piscator, Gustav von Wangenheim, and local administrators linked to the Soviet Military Administration in Germany and the German Democratic Republic. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s the periodical negotiated editorial tensions involving contributors connected to Max Frisch, Bertolt Brecht, Günter Grass, Wolfgang Langhoff, and critics embedded in institutions like the Akademie der Künste and the Theaterinstitut der DDR. During the détente era the journal covered festivals including the Salzburg Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Avignon Festival, and exchanges with ensembles such as the Comédie-Française and the Maly Theatre. After 1989 the magazine adapted to reunification dynamics involving the Bundesrepublik Deutschland', the city administrations of Berlin, and repertory changes at houses like the Schaubühne and the Staatstheater Stuttgart. In the 2000s it documented collaborations with collectives influenced by the Wooster Group, Complicité, Forced Entertainment, and practitioners trained at institutions such as the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts and the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich.
Editorially the magazine combines reportage on seasons at venues like the Burgtheater, Thalia Theater, Deutsches Schauspielhaus, and Helsinki City Theatre with theoretical essays referencing scholars and artists associated with Jacques Derrida, Judith Butler, Peter Brook, Richard Schechner, and Hans-Thies Lehmann. Coverage spans dramaturgy, stage design, direction, choreography, and scenography with attention to companies such as Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal, Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Sasha Waltz, and solo artists who emerged from conservatoires like the Moscow Art Theatre School. The periodical publishes interviews with directors linked to the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, analyses of dramaturgical practice at the National Theatre London, and profiles of playwrights within the networks of Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, and Friedrich Dürrenmatt. It also documents scenographic innovations referencing designers such as Rudolf Heinrich, Bertolt Brecht's collaborators, and modernists with ties to the Bauhaus legacy.
Across decades contributors included critics, dramaturgs, and scholars associated with institutions like the University of Leipzig, Humboldt University of Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, and the University of Oxford. Prominent editorial voices engaged with work by Heiner Müller, Thomas Bernhard, Elfriede Jelinek, Samuel Beckett, and directors affiliated with Peter Stein, Frank Castorf, Thomas Ostermeier, and Robert Wilson. Guest contributors have included theorists connected to Roland Barthes, Walter Benjamin, Theodor W. Adorno, and practitioners from festivals such as Wuzhen Theatre Festival and the Taipei Arts Festival. Longstanding editors maintained networks with institutions like the Deutsche Akademie der Künste, theatre archives such as the Theatermuseum Düsseldorf, and publishing houses linked to the Suhrkamp Verlag and Rowohlt Verlag.
Published in German from its base in Berlin, the periodical reached subscribers throughout the German Democratic Republic and later the unified Federal Republic of Germany, with distribution channels touching libraries and cultural centres in Vienna, Zurich, Prague, Warsaw, Budapest, Moscow, Paris, London, and New York City. Special issues accompanied major events including the Theatertreffen, the Avignon Festival, the Vienna Festival, and the Berlin International Film Festival when cross-disciplinary work overlapped. The magazine partnered with archives like the Deutsches Theatermuseum, book fairs such as the Frankfurt Book Fair, and academic symposia at the Goethe-Institut and various universities to stage panels, readings, and exhibitions that extended print reach into institutional programming.
The periodical influenced repertory choices at institutions including the Staatstheater Hannover, Schauspiel Köln, Kammerspiele München, and experimental venues influenced by the Open Space Movement and collectives with aesthetic affinities to Grotowski and Suzuki Tadashi. Critics and scholars cite its dossiers in work on postwar German dramaturgy, Cold War cultural exchange, and contemporary performance analysis involving practitioners tied to the Royal Court Theatre and the National Theatre of Scotland. Reviews and translations published within informed acquisitions by libraries such as the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and the British Library, and academic courses at the University of California, Berkeley, Goldsmiths, University of London, and the European Graduate School frequently reference its archives.
Over its history the magazine and its editors received honors from cultural institutions such as the Goethe-Institut, the Kulturbund der DDR (historical recognitions), municipal cultural prizes from Berlin, and acknowledgments tied to festivals like the Theatertreffen and the Salzburg Festival. Contributors have been recipients of awards including the Burgtheater Prize, the Georg Büchner Prize, the Kleist Prize, and accolades from academies such as the Akademie der Künste and the Sächsische Akademie der Künste. The periodical's archives and themed retrospectives have been exhibited in institutions such as the Deutsches Theatermuseum and cited in prize deliberations tied to lifetime achievements for directors and playwrights across Europe.
Category:Theatre magazines Category:German magazines Category:Magazines established in 1946