Editing East Germany (section)

=== Theatre ===
[[File:Bertolt-Brecht.jpg|thumb|upright|Playwright [[Bertolt Brecht]] (1898–1956)]]

East German theatre was originally dominated by [[Bertolt Brecht]], who brought back many artists out of exile and reopened the [[Theater am Schiffbauerdamm]] with his [[Berliner Ensemble]].<ref name="NYTimesTynan">{{Cite web |last=Tynan |first=Kenneth |author-link=Kenneth Tynan |date=11 January 1976 |title=Brecht Would Not Applaud His Theater Today |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/05/10/specials/tynan-brecht.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914115241/https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/05/10/specials/tynan-brecht.html |archive-date=14 September 2016 |access-date=1 September 2016 |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Alternatively, other influences tried to establish a "working-class theatre", played for the working class by the working class.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

After Brecht's death, conflicts began to arise between his family (around [[Helene Weigel]]) and other artists about Brecht's legacy, including [[Slatan Dudow]],<ref>Joshua Feinstein, ''The Triumph of the Ordinary: Depictions of Daily Life in the East German Cinema, 1949–1989'' (Chapel Hill, NC: [[University of North Carolina Press]], 2002), 80–109. {{ISBN|978-0-8078-5385-6}}</ref> [[Erwin Geschonneck]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harkin |first=Patrick |title=Brecht and the GDR: Politics, Culture, Posterity |date=2011 |publisher=[[Camden House]] |isbn=978-1-57113-492-9 |editor-last=Bradley |editor-first=Laura |series=Edinburgh German Yearbook |volume=5 |publication-place=Rochester, NY |pages=84–99 |chapter=Brecht on 17 June: Establishing the Facts |editor-last2=Leeder |editor-first2=Karen |editor-link2=Karen Leeder}}</ref> [[Erwin Strittmatter]], [[Peter Hacks]], [[Benno Besson]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gezen |first=Ela E. |title=Brecht, Turkish Theater, and Turkish-German Literature: Reception, Adaptation, and Innovation After 1960 |date=2018 |publisher=[[Boydell & Brewer]] |isbn=978-1-64014-024-0 |publication-place=London |pages=80–85}}</ref> [[Peter Palitzsch]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wekwerth |first=Manfred |author-link=Manfred Wekwerth |title=Daring to Play: A Brecht Companion |date=2012 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-136-70911-1 |publication-place=London |pages=101–07}}</ref> and [[Ekkehard Schall]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bradley |first=Laura |title=Brecht and Political Theatre: The Mother on Stage |date=2006 |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-928658-4 |publication-place=London |pages=108–12, 129–31}}</ref>

In the 1950s, the Swiss director [[Benno Besson]] with the [[Deutsches Theater (Berlin)|Deutsches Theater]] successfully toured Europe and Asia including Japan with ''The Dragon'' by [[Evgeny Schwartz]]. In the 1960s, he became the Intendant of the [[Volksbühne]] often working with [[Heiner Müller]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rockwell |first=John |date=25 February 2006 |title=Benno Besson, 83, Director of Plays and Brecht Disciple, Is Dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/25/theater/benno-besson-83-director-of-plays-and-brecht-disciple-is-dead.html |access-date=4 June 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

In the 1970s, a parallel theatre scene sprung up, creating theatre "outside of Berlin" in which artists played at provincial theatres. For example, [[Peter Sodann]] founded the [[Neues Theater]] in [[Halle/Saale]] and [[Frank Castorf]] at the theater [[Anklam]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}}

Theatre and [[cabaret]] had high status in the GDR, which allowed it to be very proactive. This often brought it into confrontation with the state. Benno Besson once said, "In contrast to artists in the west, they took us seriously, we had a bearing."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Berlin East germany |url=http://www.berlinstory-andtravels.info/2016/01/25/east-germany |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222050829/http://www.berlinstory-andtravels.info/2016/01/25/east-germany |archive-date=22 December 2017 |access-date=19 December 2017 |website=www.berlinstory-andtravels.info}}</ref>{{efn|This quote has no cross-referencing to ground its authenticity. For a detailed overview of the issues of Brecht's legacy after his death within the Berliner Ensemble, see David Barnett, ''A History of the Berliner Ensemble'' ([[Cambridge University Press]], 2015), 146–70. {{ISBN|978-1-107-05979-5}}.}}

[[File:VolksbühBerlJan08.JPG|thumb|[[Volksbühne]]]]

The [[Friedrichstadt-Palast]] in [[Berlin]] was the last major building erected by the GDR, making it an exceptional architectural testimony to how Germany overcame its former division. Today, it is a major center for Berlin's [[revue]] tradition.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Friedrichstadt-Palast |url=https://www.palast.berlin/en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304055516/https://www.palast.berlin/en |archive-date=4 March 2018 |access-date=8 February 2018}}</ref> Other important theatres include the [[Berliner Ensemble]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Das BE{{snd}}ein Theater für Zeitgenossen |url=http://www.berliner-ensemble.de |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530033027/http://www.berliner-ensemble.de |archive-date=30 May 2010 |access-date=28 March 2010 |publisher=Berliner-ensemble.de}}</ref> the [[Deutsches Theater (Berlin)|Deutsches Theater]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Deutsches Theater: Home |url=http://www.deutsches-theater.de |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326013548/http://www.deutsches-theater.de |archive-date=26 March 2010 |access-date=28 March 2010 |publisher=Deutsches-theater.de}}</ref> the [[Maxim-Gorki-Theater|Maxim Gorki Theater]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gorki.de |url=http://www.gorki.de |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323211142/http://gorki.de |archive-date=23 March 2010 |access-date=28 March 2010 |publisher=Gorki.de}}</ref> and the [[Volksbühne]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Volksbühne Berlin |url=http://www.volksbuehne-berlin.de |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323154731/http://www.volksbuehne-berlin.de |archive-date=23 March 2010 |access-date=28 March 2010 |publisher=Volksbuehne-berlin.de}}</ref>