Scandal on stage : European theater as moral trial / Theodore Ziolkowski.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ziolkowski, Theodore.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Theater--Moral and ethical aspects--Europe.

Theater.

Theater and society--Europe.

Theater and society.

Theater--Political aspects--Europe.

Theater--Political aspects.

Theater--Moral and ethical aspects.

Europe.

Physical Description:

xi, 190 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Summary:

New plays and operas have often tried to upset the status quo or disturb the assumptions of theater audiences. Yet, as this study explores, the reactions of the audience or of the authorities are often more extreme than the creators had envisaged, to include outrage, riots, protests, or censorship. Scandal on Stage looks at ten famous theater scandals of the past two centuries in Germany and France as symptoms of contemporary social, political, ethical, and aesthetic upheavals. The writers and composers concerned, including Schiller, Stravinsky, Strauss, Brecht, and Weill, portrayed new artistic and ideological ideas that came into conflict with the expectations of their audiences. In a comparative perspective, Theodore Ziolkowski shows how theatrical scandals reflect or challenge cultural and ethical assumptions, and asks whether theater can still be, as Schiller wrote, a moral institution: one that successfully makes its audience think differently about social, political, and ethical questions.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

Scandal as a non-event? 1

Art as provocation? 5

Freedom of art? 8

What is scandal? 11

A moral institution? 14

2 Overtures 18

The morality of robbers (Schiller's Die Räuber) 18

The battle of Hernani (Hugo's Hernani) 27

3 Scanning the surface 37

The drama of schnaps and forceps (Hauptmann's Vor Sonnenaufgang) 38

The drama of the Savage God (Jarry's Ubu Roi) 48

4 Sounding the depths 59

Femme de siécle (Wilde/Strauss's Salome) 59

Spring massacre (Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps) 73

5 Diagnosing the present 85

Dancing toward the abyss (Schnitzler's Reigen) 85

Trouble in Mahagonny (Brecht/Weill's Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny) 99

6 Overcoming the past 113

Defrocking the deputy (Hochhuth's Der Stellvertreter) 113

The wreck of the Medusa (Henze's Das Floss der Medusa) 124

7 Conclusion 133.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780521112604

0521112605

OCLC:

318871916