Stealing Büchner's Characters? Leonce und Lena in East Berlin

Author: Bradley, Laura

Source: Oxford German Studies, Volume 35, Number 1, 2006 , pp. 66-78(13)

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Abstract:

At the Volksbühne in 1978, a ground-breaking production of Leonce und Lena ridiculed Erich Honecker's government and alluded to the Stasi, censorship, and travel restrictions. Its audacity shocked the authorities, yet they allowed it to escape uncensored. This surprising restraint contrasted with their responses to earlier, less provocative productions and with their refusal to publish Volker Braun's essay 'Büchners Briefe', which made similarly bold criticisms, in 1977. The different outcomes of these cases point to divergences within censorship practice: between print and performance, explicit and implicit criticism, and pre-publication and post-performance controls. Furthermore, the production's survival shows how censors were beginning to conceive of their task as damage limitation, and how theatre was starting to provide a forum for critical — but strictly limited — public discussion. Whilst GDR theatre critics argued that the director Jürgen Gosch had abused the Kulturerbe and stolen Büchner's characters, his creative and topical interpretation actually brought out key features and themes of the text. In the longer term, the production encouraged other writers and theatres to explore Büchner's relevance to the GDR. The locks on his legacy had been broken.

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/007871906x108968

Publication date: 2006-04-01

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