Claude Schumacher – författare

All of Artaud's theatrical ideas collected in one volume Artaud's cherished dream was to found a new kind of theatre in France that would not be an artistic spectacle, but a communion between spectators and actors. This volume contains all of Artaud's key writings on theatre and cinema from 1921 to his death in 1948, together with a definitive commentary on the key texts of this 20th-century theatre visionary. Although his potent theories were never successfully realised during his own tortured lifetime, his revolutionary ideas have inspired the work of Genet, Arrabal, The Living Theatre, Grotowski, Brook and most experimental drama and performance work of the last decades. "Artaud was one of the most influential figures in European theatre , one of the great, daring mapmakers of the consciousness in extremis." (Susan Sontag) "For Artaud, the actor is the victim at the stake desperately signalling through the flames." Peter Brook

'To portray the Holocaust, one has to create a work of art', says Claude Lanzmann, the director of Shoah. However, can the Holocaust be turned into theatre? Is it possible to portray on stage events that, by their monstrosity, defy human comprehension? These are the questions addressed by the playwrights and the scholars featured in this book. Their essays present and analyse plays performed in Israel, America, France, Italy, Poland and, of course, Germany. The style of presentation ranges from docudramas to avant-garde performances, from realistic impersonation of historical figures to provocative and nightmarish spectacles. The book is illustrated with original production photographs and some rare drawings and documents; it also contains an important descriptive bibliography of more than two hundred Holocaust plays.

This, the fourth volume to be published in the series Theatre in Europe: A Documentary History, charts the development of theatrical presentation at a time of great cultural and political upheaval and is, for today's theatre practitioner, historian and theoretician, the most inspiring and important period in the evolution of our art. Putting on plays was no longer an end in itself, but the creation of imaginary worlds had to be justified on ethical, sociological, political, as well as aesthetic grounds. It is also a period that still affects every aspect of play-making today. With few exceptions, the documents from France, Germany, Russia, Scandinavia, Italy and Spain are unavailable to an English-reading public and many are out of print (or unpublished) in their original language. The volume contains numerous illustrations, the source location for each document and substantial bibliography.

This, the fourth volume to be published in the series Theatre in Europe: A Documentary History, charts the development of theatrical presentation at a time of great cultural and political upheaval and is, for today's theatre practitioner, historian and theoretician, the most inspiring and important period in the evolution of our art. Putting on plays was no longer an end in itself, but the creation of imaginary worlds had to be justified on ethical, sociological, political, as well as aesthetic grounds. It is also a period that still affects every aspect of play-making today. With few exceptions, the documents from France, Germany, Russia, Scandinavia, Italy and Spain are unavailable to an English-reading public and many are out of print (or unpublished) in their original language. The volume contains numerous illustrations, the source location for each document and substantial bibliography.