Shakespeare in the German Open-Air Theatre

Summary

‘Open-air theatres’—a collective term for various types of theatre opposed to the enclosed play-house—have their own peculiar laws of dramaturgy which essentially differ from those of the theatre in the ordinary sense. Here, instead of an auditorium there is a spectators’ enclosure; instead of a stage, an open platform.

The facts that there is no curtain and that different dimensions apply to platform and arena, the lack of stage machinery and its capacity for scene changes, and the different acoustic and visual conditions demand that both the method of production and the form of the play chosen for production should be most carefully determined in accordance with the requirements of the stage. So far, however, the open-air theatre in Germany has proved incapable of stimulating the writing of special plays; and there is no 'open-air drama' worth mentioning. Dramas of 'local colour' and indifferent 'festival' plays have fallen quite deservedly into oblivion after only a short life on the stage.