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Theatre and War 1933-1945

Theatre and War 1933-1945

Michael Balfour

(2001)

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Abstract

On an April evening in 1934, on the River Arno in Florence, an air squadron, an infantry, a cavalry brigade, fifty trucks, four field and machine gun batteries, ten field radio stations, and six photoelectric units presented a piece of theatre. The mass spectacle, 18 BL involved over two thousand amateur actors and was performed before an audience of twenty thousand.

18 BL is one of eleven extraordinary essays collected together for the first time. The essays have been selected and edited from a wide range of publications dating from the 1940s to the 1990s. The authors are academics, cultural historians, and theatre practitioners - some with direct experience of the harsh conditions of Europe during the war. Each author critically assesses the function of theatre in times of world crisis, exploring themes of Fascist aesthetic propaganda in Italy and Germany, of theatre re-education programmes in the Gulags of Russia, of cultural "sustenance" for the troops at the front and interned German refugees in the UK, or cabaret shows as a currency for survival in Jewish concentration camps.


Michael Balfour is currently head of BA in Drama, Theatre and Television at King Alfred's, Winchester and an award winning writer of theatre, film and radio scripts.


Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Theatre and War 1933-1945 iii
Copyright Page iv
Contents v
The Contributors viii
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
Part I. The Aesthetics of Fascism 11
Chapter 1. The Adventures of Mother Cartridge-Pouch 12
Chapter 2. Theatre Politics of the Mussolini Regime and their Influence on Fascist Drama 21
Chapter 3. Towards and Aesthetic of Fascist Opera 32
Chapter 4. Hitler's Theatre 46
Part II. Theatre, Occupation and Curfew 53
Chapter 5. The War Years 56
Chapter 6. The Role of Joan of Arc on the Stage of Occupied Paris 65
Part III. Theatre Behind the Wire 83
Chapter 7. German Refugee Theatre in British Internment 84
Chapter 8. Thespis Behind the Wire, or Entertainment in Internment - A Personal Recollection 117
Chapter 9. The Muses in Gulag 124
Chapter 10. Cabaret in Concentration Camps 137
Part IV. Theatre at the Front 165
Chapter 11. Brigades at the Front 166
Index 188