This book examines the institutional contexts of dramaturgical practices in the changing political landscape of 20th century Germany. Through wide-ranging case studies, it discusses the way in which operationalised modes of action, legal frameworks and an established profession have shaped dramaturgical practice and thus links to current debates around the institutional turn in theatre and performance studies. German theatre represents a rich and well-chosen field as it is here where the role of the dramaturg was first created and where dramaturgy played a significantly politicised role in the changing political systems of the 20th century. The volume represents an important addition to a growing field of work on dramaturgy by contributing to a historical contextualisation of current practice. In doing so, it understands dramaturgy not only as a process which occurs in rehearsal rooms and writers studies, but one that has far wider institutional and political implications.

Anselm Heinrich is a Professor of Theatre Studies at the University of Glasgow. His books include Entertainment, Education, Propaganda(2007), Theater in der Region (2012),Theatre in Europe Under German Occupation (2017), and a volume on Ruskin, The Theatre, and Victorian Visual Culture(2009). He is currently under contract for a monograph on theatre in Britain during WWII. He has held research fellowships at Harvard, Oxford and Marburg. 

Ann-Christine Simke is a Lecturer in Performance at the University of the West of Scotland. She recently published the article Forensic Architecture in the Theatre and the Gallery: A Reflection on Counter hegemonic Potentials and Pitfalls of Art Institutions (with Anika Marschall, 2022) and is currently under contract for a co-authored (with Anika Marschall) book on intersectional theatre practices.

Chapter-1: Introduction.- Part One: Dramaturgical Contexts: Institutionalised Ideologies.- Chapter 2 - Institutional Dramaturgy at Deutsches Theater Berlin - Ann-Christine Simke.- Chapter 3 - National Dramaturg Rainer Schlösser and German Theatre after 1933 - Gerwin Strobl.- Chapter 4 - Implementing Germanic Repertoires Institutional Dramaturgy during WWII - Anselm Heinrich.- Chapter 5 - Brechts Performance Theories in Post- war Germany - Ramona Mosse.- Chapter 6 - Cold War Dramaturgies: Institution and Ideology in 1950s German Theatre - Michael Bachmann.- Part Two: Institutional Infrastructures: Theatres of Oppression.- Chapter 7 - Theatre Pozna/Posen (Poland) - Alexander Weigel.- Chapter 8 - Theatre Maribor/Marburg (Slovenia) - Matjaz Birk.- Chapter 9 - Theatre in Prague - Volker Mohn.- Chapter 10 - Theatre in Oslo - Anselm Heinrich.- Part Three: Performance Practice: Dramaturgy and the Aesthetics of War- Chapter 11 - In the OpenAir: Shell Shock Theatre - Evelyn Annuss.- Chapter 12 - Berlin Amsterdam Westerbork: Revue and the Aesthetics of War: Veronika Zangl.- Chapter 13 - Theatre under the NS regime in Austria: Theatrical activities in Crisis Situations - Brigitte Dalinger.- Chapter 14 - Spanish classical theatre during Third Reich - John London.