Dr. Birgit Haas

Birgit Haas, born 1966, studied English and German Language and Literature in Heidelberg. She completed her doctorate in 1998 with the topic: The Theatre of George Tabori. 1999-2004 DAAD-Lektorin at the universities of Keele and Bristol (GB); 2004-2005 teaching at the Germanistische Seminar at the Universität Heidelberg. Since 2005 lecturer in drama at the University of Exeter (GB).

Major publications include: Das Theater des George Tabori (2000), Modern German Political Drama 1980-2000 ( 2003), Wendetheater – Theater der Wende (2004), Das Theater von Dea Loher (2006). As editor: Macht – Performanz, Performativität und Polittheater seit 1990 (2005); forth. (ed): Der Postfeministische Diskurs.

How Political is the New German Drama?

How does German drama present politics and what is its relationship to the German state? How is the gentle revolution in Germany portrayed in post-89 drama? The 10 years following the Fall of the Wall and the subsequent Reunification in 1990 are characterised not only by heated debates between East-West, but also by the renaissance of a political drama. With the advent of a new, young generation of playwrights, the focus shifted from the aesthetic and self-reflexive discussions, which had been fashionable ever since the 1960s, to a politically engaged theatre. The decade after 1989 saw the development of the various trends within this young generation of playwrights, their engagement with the impact of reunification as well as broader political debates. At the same time, drama as an artistic “form” was rediscovered and repoliticised. Through my investigation of the social and historical commitment of East and West German drama, I will challenge the widely held view that dramatic theatre in Germany plays only a minor role.

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