Introduction
Producing the New Public: Der Lohndrücker, 1956-60
Process and the Public Forum: Der Horatier, 1968-73
Treating Woodworm: Wolokolamsker Chaussee IV: Kentauren, 1986
"SOMETHING IS ROTTEN IN THIS AGE OF HOPE": Der Lohndrücker at the
Deutsches Theater, 1988-91
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Wood . . . reconstructs several important earlier productions of
Lohndrücker and Horatier by other directors, using them as foils to
demonstrate the importance and impact of Müller's artistic choices
in 1988. . . . [The author's assiduous archival sleuthing]
represents exemplary dramaturgical scholarship, a valuable body of
reliable background information assembled to preserve and
illuminate an ephemeral theatre event whose enduring scholarly
interest [he] makes clear.
*MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW*
[O]ffers new perspectives and compelling arguments on Müller's work
and its social-historical position. The book will therefore be of
interest and critical value to scholars of Heiner Müller, German
theater, the GDR, and divided Germany. While the extensive archival
research alone provides a wealth of new materials, . . . Wood's
rigorous interdisciplinarity and his careful work at the
intersection of drama and theater studies also make the book
important for scholars in cultural and theater studies more
broadly.
*MONATSHEFTE*
Michael Wood's monograph provides an excellent investigation of
Heiner Mueller's pursuit of effective political theater. . . . By
directing readers' attention to the social basis of human character
and shifting boundaries of collective experience and action, Wood's
monograph proves particularly timely as it reminds readers that the
production and reception of art can and should have social and
political consequences.
*GERMAN STUDIES REVIEW*
[V]ery clearly structured and written . . . . [M]akes a clear case
for Müller's understanding of reception as a democratic force.
*JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN STUDIES*
[C]ompelling and well-executed . . . . Wood's study succeeds
admirably in fulfilling [its] goals . . . . Indeed, it is
especially notable for successfully juggling the empirical and the
theoretical aspects of audience response. . . . [T]hrough this
excellent work, we glimpse a positive vision of the 'democratic
socialism' in Müller's oeuvre that outlives the circumstances of
its conception.
*MODERN DRAMA*
Wood's investigation usefully foregrounds Müller's interest in
democratic processes in which he wanted his audiences to be
actively involved.
*NEW THEATRE QUARTERLY*
[G]lean[s] valuable critical insight from meticulous archival work.
. . . Like Müller says of his own theatrical practice, 'Es wird ein
Prozeß vorgeführt, nicht ein Resultat abgeliefert,' . . . Wood's
scholarship . . . makes its notable contribution to Müller studies,
in which 'a process is shown rather than a result delivered.
*STUDIES IN 20TH- AND 21ST-CENTURY LITERATURE*
Michael Wood's timely new study of Heiner Müller offers an incisive
view into the work of East Germany's most famous dramaturge.
*GERMAN QUARTERLY*
Wood's conclusion is that M. had a radical concept of democracy in
mind that could not be reconciled with either the SED system or the
Western, liberal understanding of democracy, and that this concept
remained stable until the author's death. A democratic theater, he
argues, is one that arises from dissent and by way of conflicts
provokes different reactions from the audience. Here Wood shows the
difference between M. and Brecht, for M.'s conception of a
democratic theater from which a democratic audience emerges is
merely a utopian wish, a striving for the impossible, which is the
proper task of art. Wood's study is recommended as a good
introduction to M.'s theatrical theory and practice.
*GERMANISTIK*
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