Description: The focus is on German drama in this multi-faceted view of developments on the European stage over three centuries. Scholars from Great Britain, Germany and the United States examine changes wrought in the art of drama by dramatists, by actors and stage designers, and by shifting patterns of thought and power-structures. The timespan extends from Molière and Lessing, giants of the theatrical tradition, to such latter-day iconoclasts as Beckett, Handke and Achternbusch. The book is a tribute to Ronald Peacock, distinguished British Germanist and Comparatist.
Review Quotes: «I recommend the volume for its ... variety of interpretative and theoretical approaches and of material discussed, and the range of ideas presented. Most of the articles are truly thought-provoking and, a welcome change from some patterns established in scholarly writing, stylistically accessible. A lot can be learned from this volume about male dramatists from Molière to Achternbusch. ... James's and Ranawake's book itself might help change some of the patterns in our perception and reception of German drama.» (Susanne Kord, Seminar)
«Apart from its appropriateness in honouring the achievements of Ronald Peacock this 'Festschrift' has a welcome thematic unity within the diversity of its two dozen contributions... The volume will demand space on the shelves of every library that takes the study of drama seriously... The editors are to be congratulated on their achievement, and there isn't a single dull, let alone dispensable, essay in the book.» (Forum for Modern Language Studies)
«This is a fine collection of essays for the distinguished British Germanist Ronald Peacock. The range of topics treated is as wide as the approaches are diverse and all bear witness in one way or another to the stimulus given by Peacock to the study of German and European drama. ... The editors point out in their preface that all contributions 'discourage the fashionable academic and theatrical game of 'wholesale deconstruction' of texts...by placing dramas and dramatists in a historical framework...'. In this and other respects the volume is eminently successful, its title well justified and its dedicatee appropriately honoured.» (John Guthrie, Journal of European Studies)