Philosophical Theatre: Some Reflections on the Concept

Abstract

The article deals with the question of how to define and understand the concept of a philosophical theatre, in order to apply it productively to performances. To this end, theoretical reflections and the analysis of several productions of Greek tragedies that might qualify as philosophical theatre, are related to each other. Proceeding from Brecht’s ideas on a philosophical theatre, Schiller’s reflections on an aesthetic education and Goethe’s deliberations on Bildung, a first tentative definition of the concept is undertaken. In order to further substantiate the understanding of the concept, the tentative definition is applied to two productions of Greek tragedies that were mounted in order to realize the respective ideas – Brecht’s The Antigone of Sophocles (Chur 1948) and Goethe’s Ion (Weimar 1802). In light of the perspectives opened up by the conclusions regarding the concept, still another production of a Greek tragedy is discussed – namely, Klaus Michael Grüber’s The Bacchae (Berliner Schaubühne 1974), which the director never claimed to be philosophical theatre. Still, from it important insights regarding the concept can be derived that demonstrate its crucial, even if ever-changing meaning.Some of the arguments brought forward by this article have already been published in my book Tragedy’s Endurance (2017).