In this book the author analyses Nazi cultural policies by studying the most prestigious theatre in the 1930’s Germany, the Berliner Staatstheater, the attempts of control from the regime as well as the plays performed during the era.

This book is divided into five parts:
1. Historic positioning and Nazi cultural policy
2. Propaganda plays
3. Classic repertory plays
4. Signs of artistic resistance
5. Conclusion: The Staatstheater after W.W.II

The fist part discusses the theatres under the Weimar era before moving on to the effects of the Nazi takeover and the cultural policies of the Nazi regime, as well as discussing the various NSDAP sponsored organisations that competed for control of the Berlin theatres.
The second part discusses the few outright propaganda plays that were performed at the theatre, providing an in-depth analysis of the performance of Hanns Johst’s “Schlageter”.
The third part focuses of the move from propaganda plays to performances of the of the classics in a form that benefited the Hitler regime, using Goethe’s “Faust I” and Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” as examples.
The fourth part discusses the attempts by directors and actors to criticize the regime in their plays, using the performance of Shakespeare’s “Richard III” as an example.
The last part discusses the theatre in the final years of the war and the fate of the it and it’s most influential members after the war, ending with the author’s conclusions.
There are two appendixes in the book, one with the repertories of the theatre from the 1932-33 to the 1943-44 season and the other with a translation of a 1933 speech by Joseph Goebbels.
It also includes 20 pages with photos from a few of the plays performed in the theatre.

The topic chosen by the author, who by the way has both acting and directing experience for the theatre world, is a very interesting and often overlooked one. I personally found the descriptions of the struggles between various Nazi factions over control of the theatre to be very interesting and would like to have a more in depth study of this as well as the general cultural policies of the regime.

The studies of the plays selected as representative examples were also interested, though I found the use of semiotics to be a bit distracting from what I felt should be the focus of the book at times, though I admit that might be due to my lack of previous knowledge of this methodology.

At times the book seemed somewhat unorganized with important information about for example the cultural policy appearing in the discussions of the plays rather than in the proper section.

The author also uses footnotes through-out the book and provides a good index over persons and plays discussed in the text, both are things that are so often neglected even in high-quality books these days.

If you are interested in the cultural policies of the regime in regard to the theatres and how it tried to use the theatres to spread propaganda, you will no doubt find this book interesting and there are few if any other books focusing on this theatre and only a handful of recent English-language books on the theatres 1933-1945 at all.

(Reviewed by Marcus Wendel)
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.