Entertainment, Propaganda, Education: Regional Theatre in Germany and Britain between 1918 and 1945 by Anselm Heinrich

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212 Reviews the very descriptors she has chosen. Exactly how, the reader is lefttowonder, does attributive ekphrasis distinguish itself from the simple quotation or invocation of paintings in a poem? Why does the depiction inherent in depictive ekphrasis not make such a term redundant? Is itpossible to distinguish the interpretative reflections on a painting (interpretative ekphrasis) and the dramatizations inspired by a particular painting (dramatic ekphrasis) from the negotiations cinema con stantlyundertakes between any object and itsscreen representation? Expanding the discourse on ekphrasis?particularly with regard to its filmic presence?requires a more sustained and methodical parsing of these modes. The theory of those working in the French aesthetic tradition might be of assistance here; Andre Bazin (whose essay on 'impure cinema' would introduce the challenges of adap tation, an issue which goes unaddressed) and Jacques Derrida (whose formidably tangled essay 'Restitutions', published in The Truth inPainting (Chicago: Univer sity of Chicago Press, 1987), pp. 255-382, demonstrates how interpretation can swallow ekphrasis whole) are two who immediately come tomind. While Eidt's book suggests a very inventive approach fordrawing aesthetic disciplines closer to one another and gives the intellectual category of ekphrasis some much-deserved attention, itfalls short of itsparagonal promise. Yale University Jennifer Stob Entertainment, Propaganda, Education: Regional Theatre inGermany and Britain between 1918 and 1945. By Anselm Heinrich. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press. 2007. 288 pp. ?25. ISBN 978-1-902806-75-4. We are used to accepting thenotion that theatre traditions inBritain and Germany are fundamentally different. InGermany Schiller's notion of the theatre as amoral institution and as a place of education of national cultural importance is often quoted as evidence of the seriousness with which the theatre is regarded there, while in Britain the commercial success of theatre has been seen as paramount, with the repertoire consequently dominated by light entertainment. Anselm Hein richmaintains that these generalizations have held sway for too long and that in the period concerned there is a shiftof attitudes and more convergence between cultural attitudes in the two countries than is generally assumed. Heinrich aims to show this by studying regional theatre life in the period be tween 1918 and 1945. He has taken Yorkshire andWestphalia and concentrates on theatre life inYork, Hull, Sheffield, and Leeds compared with Miinster, Dortmund, Hagen, Bielefeld, and Bochum. He focuses on the conditions of theatre life,espe cially funding, the interrelationship of the theatre with politics and government policies, censorship, and the theatre's social and cultural role. He also analyses the repertoire and studies itsdevelopment. He is able to show that,despite differences at thebeginning of the twentieth century,when a system of subsidies was emerging inGermany thathad no equivalent inEngland, more and more similarities emerge as we approach the end of the Second World War. On thebroadest level the theatre MLR, 105.1, 2010 213 comes tobe seen not only as a place of entertainment, but as a cultural institution of immense importance to the nation. The state could use itforpolitical purposes, but this carried with itan acknowledgement that ithad to be funded. British theatres became less concerned with commercial success and more interested in artistic purpose. In Germany theNazi regime failed in practice to achieve its ideological aims in the theatre and had to allow audiences to see what theywanted. Heinrich argues that there are striking convergences in the theatre repertoires of the two countries. The privileging of anti-modernism and the call for a morally sound' repertoire is evident inboth cases. There is cross-fertilization aswell: British come dies and plays by Shakespeare and Shaw inGermany, German comedies and music plays adapted for theBritish stage. Foreign drama was admittedly less frequent but continued to play a significant role. The classics became essential ingredients of a successful repertoire and were exploited for political purposes in both countries. The closure of British theatres at the beginning of the war and the destruction of German theatres towards the end of it should not blind us to the rising audi ence numbers and the increasing recognition of the educational importance of the theatre to both nations in the period as awhole. Heinrich thus stresses similarities and continuities rather than accepting the traditional watershed...